Harry Potter and What Could Have Been
by HermioneNHarry
Summary: Sure the story of Deathly Hallows is great but what if Harry and Hermione finally got sick of Ron leaving them. This is my Harry/Hermione version of Deathly Hallows from the morning after Ron left on. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 16: A New Dawn

**A/N: A few things before we get started. I loved all of the HP books and the seventh is without a doubt my favorite. But I always hoped that somehow Harry and Hermione would end up together. I knew it probably wouldn't happen but when Ron left them in DH I saw the opportunity so this is my version of what I think should have happened after Ron left. I am trying to follow most of the same story lines that Ms. Rowling went with but adjust them to fit my story. It's rated mature just in case things gets a little interesting later on. Obviously I own nothing and I give all of the credit for the characters and the world to Ms. Rowling, just the story is mine. I'll try to post at least a chapter a week, more when I have more time. So please read/review/enjoy.**

**Chapter 16: A New Dawn**

Harry awoke the next morning after not sleeping well. He looked to his left and saw the locket sitting on the table where he had left it after Ron had thrown it to the ground. He looked right, expecting to see Hermione in the bed beside him but he found it empty. Perking up his ears he heard the crackling of a fire outside and pulled on his cloak and headed out of the tent to find Hermione idly poking at the fire. "Morning," he said blinking at the rising sun, something they hadn't seen in weeks.

"Morning," she said softly in return.

"You didn't sleep at all did you," Harry said noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

"No. I tried but every noise I heard I thought it was Ron finally wising up," she replied hoarsely.

"He'll come back," Harry said. "Once he get's a few of his Mom's home cooked meal in his stomach he'll be back and better then ever.

"How?" Hermione asked. "We have to leave this place today, we've already been here nearly a week. Once we leave he won't know were to find us."

"Maybe we could stay a few extra days," Harry said searching for hope.

"No, he's not coming back, he won't back," Hermione said convincing herself.

"Why don't you get some sleep, I'll keep watch," Harry said. Hermione finally gave up her internal fight and walked back into the tent as Harry stirred the fire. He sat and watched as the sun came up over the lake they were camped beside. He thought it was ironic that the first nice day they had had since they left on their journey was the first after Ron had given up the fight. As the sun began to heat the ground Harry pulled off his cloak. For several hours he let the sun heat his body, feeling truly warm for the first time in weeks. As he sat he thought about their journey thus far. Ron had been right about one thing, they were really no closer to defeating Voldemort then they had been since they left the ministry. And yet in spite of that Harry felt his spirits lifted slightly. With just the two of them it would be much easier to move around. The two of them could easily fit under the invisibility cloak so getting food would be an easier task as well. And planning, well finally it would unencumbered by Ron's useless complaining. Maybe now they would be able to think clearly and just get to work.

As he thought about this he saw a fish jumping in the placid lake and it gave him an idea. Stripping off his shirt and pants and casting a warming charm on the water he dove in. As he swam through the slightly murky but not all together too bad water he felt free. He began to swim back and forth along the little beach that they had camped at doing different strokes. Once when he came up for air he heard from the shoreline, "Harry what are you doing?"

He looked over to see Hermione smiling over at him. "Come on Hermione, it feels incredible."

"But I don't have a bathing suit," she replied.

"Neither do I, just go in your knickers. Don't worry I won't look."

"But Harry it looks awfully dirty."

"Hermione we haven't showered since we left Grimmauld Place, you really think cleanliness should be our main concern?"

"Oh all right," she replied. As she began to pull her shirt up Harry spun around and looked back out of the lake as he continued to tread. A few seconds later he heard a loud splash and a few seconds after that Hermione broke the surface right beside him. "Oh Harry this feels so wonderful." For the next hour or so they swam around and for a few minutes almost forgot all about the problems they faced. Finally they decided they had better get a move on. While Harry turned around again Hermione made her way to shore. After a minute she called back to Harry, "Okay you can come in now." He spun around and began to swim to shore and was a little shocked to see Hermione still pulling up her pants. He couldn't help but notice her black knickers and he immediately felt ashamed for the thoughts he was having. _She's your best friend, you can't think of her like that, _he thought as he pulled on his clothes. As she made her way back to the tent he caught himself staring at her, _come on Harry she's practically your sister._

Shaking his head he followed Hermione into the tent and they began to pack everything up. They went through their now very familiar routine of cleaning up any evidence they had ever been there. Finally when everything was packed away into Hermione's bag they grasped each other's hands. Each took one final glance towards the spot where Ron had disparated from before, in a blink, they were gone. Harry looked around to find that Hermione had taken them to a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest and he set his things down to begin casting the protective enchantments around their camp. He looked back to see a small tear trickling down Hermione's cheek and he walked over and put his arm around her. Much to his surprise she responded by holding him close. "That unbelievable prat, how could he just leave us?"

"It's okay Hermione, we'll be okay," Harry said softly.

"I know Harry, as long as I have you I know that I'll be fine. I just can't believe he left."

"I guess it was just too much to ask of him," he replied.

"We're better off anyway, come on, let's get to work." And with that not another word was mentioned of Ron. They quickly got their camp set up and each went to work at studying the notes they had been making. Everything that Harry had down kept pointing him to Godric's Hallow but he knew Hermione would never approve of going there. He spent the next several hours writing out his case as to why they needed to go there, making sure that he had everything in order and that all of his arguments seemed completely logical. He was just about to begin his statement when Hermione piped up, "I think we need to Godric's Hollow."

"You what?"

"I think we need to go to Godric's Hollow," she reiterated.

"But I thought you said that he would be expecting that," Harry replied.

"And he may very well be but it just makes too much sense. I mean Dumbledore lived there, it just seems like the natural connection between you two. I doubt that Voldemort knows that part. There's got to be something there," she stated.

"I was thinking the same thing. I mean what other options do we have at this point?"

"But it'll be dangerous. We'll need to plan. We need to be smart about this."

"That'll be a right bit easier without Ron with us now won't it?" Harry said smirking.

"Boy won't it ever," Hermione said sharing Harry's grin.

"Alright what's the plan?" For the next three days they planned. Hermione was able to get a map of the town from one of her history books and they went about deciding where to go and where the most likely places there would be something hidden may be. It felt invigorating to finally have a set plan. While neither of them had any clue what they may be looking for they both seemed reenergized just to be doing something with a purpose.

There were three places they kept coming upon. The first seemed to be the most obvious in connection with Dumbledore, his old home. From what they understood he lived there from the time he was a young boy, around 10 or 11 until the time that he left to teach at Hogwarts leaving him plenty of time to find a few places for things to hide.

The next most obvious place was Harry's old home, the place his parents had been murdered and supposedly where a moment still stood. They knew that Dumbledore had been in contact with them around that time and even that he had helped them set up their home there so it seemed he would have had a chance to make that connection.

Finally there was the graveyard in Godric's Hollow. From reading through the history books they sumized that that's where both the Harry's parents and Dumbledore's mother and sister were buried in addition to several other prominent witches and wizards from throughout history. Harry knew that hiding things within graves was something that Riddle was keen to do and he thought that maybe Dumbledore would have used that idea to his advantage as well.

The next thing they had to figure out was what it was they were even looking for. All the while they had been so concerned with how to open the locket they had really forgotten to concern themselves with the other horcruxes. "Hufflepuff's cup, the snake and something from Ravenclaw," Harry said repeating what Dumbledore had shown him.

"Well it's like we've been saying, the snake is going to be with him and we have no idea what he may have gotten from Ravenclaw so let's focus on the cup," Hermione stated.

"Oh great so all we have to do is narrow our search down to places that could hold a cup, that shouldn't be too hard," Harry said sarcastically.

"Well it's a start," Hermione mentioned.

"And that's right better than we had to go off before," he replied.

"Alright so are we ready then?" she asked.

"We go tonight, midnight, when no one else should be around," he suggested.

"I think we should apparated to the graveyard, no one will be there at that time of night," Hermione said.

"Then we're all set," he stated. "Let's start getting this place cleaned up."


	2. Chapter 17: Godric's Hollow

**Chapter 17: Godric's Hollow**

Harry opened his eyes and looked around as the snow fell around them. Hermione held up the picture in the book. "I think we made it," she whispered.

They looked around for a minute in silence before Harry whispered, "Revelo." When there was nothing in response they were they were alone. The pulled off the cloak and began looking around. To their right they saw a long row of little village houses that lined the street. To their left they saw a small church that was decorated up for the Christmas season. As they stood there silently the soft hum of a hymn could just barely be made out.

"Harry I think it's Christmas Eve," Hermione said. Harry didn't know whether to be excited for the season or disappointed that they hadn't known before.

"Happy Christmas Hermione," he said as she wrapped his arm around her.

"Happy Christmas Harry," she replied before she leaned up and gave his a soft kiss on the cheek. Luckily the chill in the air masked Harry's blush as they began to walk along the path that led out of the cemetery.

Harry glanced around at the markers that dotted the landscape around them. It was bigger than he had hoped it would be, "It won't be easy finding the right graves," he mentioned as they walked out of the gate.

"Well we'll manage," Hermione reassured him. There plan was to go to Harry's parents house first. They figured since he was an abandoned monument that would be the easiest place to get into. All they had was an address for Dumbledore's old house so they weren't sure what they would find. Hermione thought that Aberforth may still be there as they couldn't find any record of him ever leaving it. Harry thought if that was the case they were really in trouble. They figured they would save the graveyard for last, checking it on their way out as it likely would be the easiest to make a quick get away from if it were needed in the morning. Both had agreed that if anything happened they were to apparated back to Tottenham Court Road and they could decide there next step in muggle London.

As they turned out of the graveyard Harry led the way. He felt as if he instinctively knew where to go. They made their way along the quiet street that bordered the cemetery, rounded a bend and then saw it. Nestled among the picturesque cottage was one that looked as though it had been struck by lightning, twice. Hermione pulled out the invisibility cloak and slipped it over them as they slowly made their way to the house. When they arrived at the front gate they looked to one another, silently asking each other what to do. Finally Harry tentatively reached out for the front gate. The moment his skin touched the iron he felt a jolt through his body as though it were electrically charged causing him to jump back. Hermione whipped out her wand and looked around for what she was certain to be some sort of ambush but instead they watched as a piece of parchment materialized on the gate and a note began to appear.

In this home on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to both Muggles and Dark Wizards alike, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore their family and the hope of the world apart. It may only be accessed by Harry James Potter in the hopes that one day he may find solace in his true home.

There were three small marking s on the bottom of the note. "Do you really think it's safe?" Hermione asked quietly.

"That's Dumbledore's mark, and that's Lupin's and Moody's. I think they left it here as a safe point for me. Come on, let's go in." Harry opened the gate and together they made their way inside.

"Okay but let's still put up our protective charms," Hermione said. But when she waved her want the flash of light went straight back to her wand. "It's already had the protections placed on it. That means the only way we could have gotten past them is if we were marked as friends. That takes a really strong and complicated bit of magic that's why I've never done it before."

Feeling slightly more comfortable they made their way to the front door. Expecting the worst Harry opened the door. What he was greeted by though was not the weather worn wasteland he was expecting but rather what looked to be a dark yet fully functioning house. They looked at each other each with a confused look in their eyes but pulled off the invisibility cloak and lit their wands before making their way silently up the stairs. There they found a great black mark outside one of the doors. "That's where my dad died," Harry said tenderly. They walked towards the door and Harry raised his hand to the doorknob. He pushed it and suddenly he was transferred back to the dreams he had been having for years. Nearly the entire ceiling in the room and the roof above it had been blown off but somehow the snow that was still falling outside wasn't landing on their heads and Harry noticed that it was the warmth from the house, not the wind and cold from outside still engulfed him.

"They must have preserved it somehow," Hermione said in awe as she looked around but Harry barely heard her.

He was staring at the only piece of furniture in the room that was not burned, broken or otherwise destroyed. "This is where he tried to kill me," he said walking up and placing his hand on the crib. "And this is where my mother died," he continued looking to the floor. Finally his emotions won out and he dropped to the floor in tears. Hermione dropped with him and wrapped her arms around him. "He didn't even care about them. It was me he wanted, not them. But he killed them anyway. They were no threat to him, he just killed them because they were in the way," Harry said through sobs.

"But Harry they died to save you. They died so you could live," Hermione pleaded.

"Like Sirius, and Moody, why does everyone have to die for me?"

"They're not just dying for you Harry," she implored. "They're dying for what you stand for, you stand for good," she continued. "No, scratch that, you stand for great. You stand for everything that's worthy and noble in the world. Harry you are the most amazing person I have ever and will probably ever know. How you do the things you've done I'll never understand. Why you chose some bushy haired girl as your friend I'll never get," Hermione spat out as she succumbed to tears of her own.

"Hermione," Harry began the tables now turned, "You're amazing. I could never have done all the things I have done without you. I would never be here without you," he said now wrapping both arms around her as they embraced.

"Oh Harry I'm sorry it's just that I'm always so afraid that you won't make it through your next ordeal. I don't think I could live without you Harry," she said pulling her head back to look Harry in the eyes.

"I couldn't live without you either Hermione," Harry said softly, gazing into her eyes. He watched as a tear trickled down her face and he reached slowly up to wipe it away. When he had he left his hand on her cheek as she smiled wistfully at him. At that moment something in his heart took over. Suddenly it didn't matter that they were in the middle of a war. It didn't matter how many nights he had watched Ginny's name on a map or how many times he had seen her and Ron sitting close. Their lips met before he really knew what was happening. His hands gripped her tighter as their lips parted and they shared the passionate embrace. They held onto each other for many wonderful minutes before finally pulling back just enough to breathe. With their foreheads pressed together and their eyes closed he breathed out, "Hermione."

"Yes Harry," she whispered.

"Was that okay?" he asked innocently.

Hermione laughed softly, "Yes Harry. That was more than okay. That was perfect," she replied.

"Do you think maybe we could stay here tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's a great idea."

They got to their feet and walked hand in hand back into the hallway. Hermione reached over and hit a light switch and incredibly the hall light turned on. They walked back down the stairs turning on more lights as they went until they reached the kitchen. There Hermione walked over to the sink and turned the nobs and they watched as fresh clear water fell from the faucet.

"Would it be okay with you if I took a shower?" Hermione asked as Harry walked up next to her.

"Of course, why would you even need to ask?" Harry questioned.

"Well we are in your house," she replied.

"Well what's mine is yours," he stated. "In fact I think I'll take one after you."

"Okay, I'll be quick," she said and leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

He grinned as she walked away and he heard the door close from the other room. Harry looked around the room at the cozy kitchen attached to the dinning room. He then made his way back into the front room which appeared to be the main living room of the house. He sat down on the sofa and realized he had seen the bottom of this same sofa in the picture his mom had sent to Sirius. He grabbed a photo album from the coffee table and began to slowly flip through the pictures. There were several of his mother and father and even a few of Sirius, Remus and much to his chagrin, Peter, but mostly they were of himself as a baby. He didn't know how long he'd been looking at the album when he heard the door open up and he looked up to see Hermione walking out in a towel.

"Sorry," she said blushing a bit. "I got so excited about finally being clean that I forgot to take my clothes in there with me."

"It's okay," he replied doing his best not to stare.

"What are you looking at?" she asked as she came over and sat down beside him still in the towel.

"Just pictures from my mum and dad," he replied.

"They look really happy," she mentioned.

"Yeah, I think they were."

"Well the bathroom's all yours," Hermione said smiling at him.

"Thanks," Harry replied as she went and grabbed a few things out of their bag before handing it to Hermione. He went into the bathroom and turned on the water. Harry hadn't realized just how dirty he had been as he washed all the much wash down the drain. When he had finished he pulled on his night clothes and headed back out. Hermione wasn't there but he saw a light coming from one of the two other rooms h hadn't been in yet that led off the main room. He walked in to what turned out to be his parents' bedroom to find Hermione lying on a huge bed looking over the history book they had been studying. "Well goodnight Hermione," Harry called from the doorway.

"Harry, I know this place is safe but will you stay with me?" she asked. "It still feels a little uncomfortable."

Harry smiled at her, "Of course," he replied as he walked over and climbed into bed beside her. She then reached over and put the book on the nightstand and turned off the light.

"Good night Harry," she said softly as she leaned in and lightly kissed his lips before settling down into his arms, using his chest for a pillow.

"Goodnight Hermione," he replied and for the first time in weeks he breathed easy as he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 18: Deathly Hallows

**A/N: I'm very sorry it has taken so long to post this chapter. Unfortunately I am not a billion dollar author and have to actually work a real job for a living so at times real life gets in the way. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and I'll post again as soon as I can. As always read/review/enjoy.**

**Chapter 18: Deathly Hallows**

He awoke the next morning and wiped the sleep away from his eyes. He reached over and grabbed his glasses and turned to look for Hermione but she wasn't there. Hearing nothing he immediately feared the worst and jumped out of bed and went into main room. He still didn't see Hermione but on the table he noticed a note and instantly recognized the looping handwriting of Hermione. He walked over and read, 'Harry I went to the market real quick. I took a bit of polyjuice potion that should last me just under an hour so if I'm not back by 10 come look for me and get yourself out. Hermione.' He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just a few minutes before 10. His heart still beating a bit faster than normal he went back into the bedroom to begin to gather everything up just in case he needed to make a quick getaway.

He was just about to tie up the bag and head out the door when he heard the front door open and he ran out wand drawn. When he saw Hermione with an armful of bags he quickly dropped his guard and walked over to help her. "You can't do that to me Hermione," he mentioned as he took the groceries from her.

"Well I was going to wait until you got up but I didn't know if that was ever going to happen," she teased.

"Give me a break, we've been sleeping in a tent for the last four months. It was nice to have four walls and a bed," he replied.

"Oh and here I thought it was because you were sleeping next to me," she said with a grin.

"Well I suppose that might have had something to do with it," he replied as he set the groceries down and leaned over to give her a peck.

For the rest of that day they relaxed and enjoyed the relief of feeling slightly normal for a change. Hermione made them three delicious meals and they spent large chunks of the day just relaxing on the sofa looking at old photographs which brought about old stories of their lives both together and separate. They steered clear of Harry's old room but for the most part they lived normally that first day in the Potter home, something they both hadn't realized they desperately needed.

The next day though it was back to work. After another nice breakfast they went to work at turning the house over, looking for anything that may have been left for them by Dumbledore. They dug around the vegetable patch in the back yard, they searched through all the cupboards in the kitchen, they even dared a trip back into Harry's old room to look through all the drawers of his old dresser. Finding nothing they headed back downstairs and Hermione headed for his parents room to look in there. Harry meanwhile headed for the study. After looking through the many bookshelves he sat down at the enormous oak desk that backed up against the window and began to pull out the drawers. The bottom drawer turned out to be full of files and as he began to rifle through them he came upon one labeled 'Invisibility Cloak.'

He pulled it out, set it on the desk and opened it up. Inside he found pages and pages of handwritten notes that must have been from his father about his invisibility cloak. After reading for a bit Harry got up and went into the bedroom to grab the cloak. "Going somewhere?" Hermione asked as she looked up from the drawers she was searching through.

"No I just found some notes my dad wrote about this cloak and I wanted to try a few things," he replied.

Hermione looked at him curiously and followed him back into the office. For a moment she looked over his shoulder while he looked again at the notes before noticing the files herself and bending down for a closer look. Harry continued pouring over the notes until… "Incendio," he yelled, pointing his wand at the cloak. Hermione jumped back in fight but nothing happened to the cloak. "Expulso," Harry cried again pointing directly at the cloak which remained completely intact.

"Harry what are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"It's indestructible," he replied. "I never realized that before."

Hermione just shook her head and went back to the files while Harry read on. After a few more minutes he noticed something else, "Hermione what was the name of the book that Dumbledore left you again?" he asked.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard," she answered. "Why?"

"Is there a story in it called "The Tale of the Three Brothers"?" he pressed.

"Yeah, it's about these three brothers that meet death and are each given something as a reward for escaping death," she stated. "It's a bit creepy really."

"What do they get as a reward?" Harry asked.

"Well the first brother asks for an indestructible wand, the second asks for a way to bring people back from the dead so he gets a stone and the third asks for a way to hide from death so he gets a…" her eyes widened and she trailed off.

"He gets a cloak doesn't he?" Harry questioned. "One that makes him invisible."

"Well yes but Harry it's just a children's story. One that's made up to teach children that they need to be careful."

"But Hermione think about it. In all our years in the magical world have you ever seen or even heard of another cloak like this one?" he asked.

"Well I mean there are other invisibility cloaks though they are quite rare. And now that you mention it those do supposedly last only a few years before they wear out," she mentioned.

"Exactly," Harry said excitedly. "My dad had this when he was our age and think about it. In the seven years we've been using it we've never been spotted under it even once."

"Well yes but what does that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione what do we know Riddle is looking for?"

"A wand that can beat yours," she replied.

"An indestructible wand," he corrected. "He's looking for a wand that can't be beaten. Here look what my Dad wrote here," he exclaimed, magically widening the chair so that Hermione could sit beside him. "He calls them 'The Deathly Hallows,' something people have come up with after reading that story. Apparently people believe that if someone can reunite the three objects from the story they will be the master of death."

Hermione flipped through the pages Harry had been reading. "He thinks this might be the cloak from the story. He thinks it might be real," she said, scratching her head.

"It is real Hermione," Harry said exasperatedly. "There is no other explanation for this cloak. Come on you're the logical one. Is there any logical explanation as to why this cloak still works, is indestructible, doesn't even have a tear on it?"

She thought about it for a few moments before acknowledging, "Well no, logically I suppose there's not but there also is no logical reason to believe the story is real. I mean how could someone literally meet death?" she asked.

"Maybe they didn't really meet death but I'd bet my wand that these brothers are real, that these things exist, that one of them is sitting right there and that Riddle is looking for another."

Again she sat pondering something for a few moments before replying, "I've read about a wand people called the most powerful wand ever made. Supposedly it was made of elder, the wand in the book is made from elder," she said as more and more dawned on her. "It goes back centuries. It was passed down and taken by force for ages but it's location and owner sort of got lost in the shuffle during the Goblin Rebellion and no one has seen or heard from it since."

"But Riddle is looking for it now and he thinks that Gregorovich had it but now that thief has it," Harry insisted.

"But Harry what about the stone, where could that possibly…" she began to ask but at that moment Harry's snitch came buzzing into the room.

They both realized it at the same moment and looked at each other mesmerized before saying together, "I open at the close."

"It's in there Hermione, I know it is," Harry said as he snatched the snitch as it flew by them.

"But Harry if this is all true then it means that Riddle is after the cloak too. Why haven't you had any visions about it?"

"I don't' know, maybe he's just worried about one at a time, maybe he doesn't know about the other two, maybe he's just looking for a really powerful wand, I don't know. But we have to find it before he does."

"But the horcruxes," Hermione mentioned.

"I know Hermione, I know. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh gee and here I thought we'd be staying in five star hotels and finding things every other day," Hermione said grinning.

"Well at least this place is better than the tent," Harry said smiling.

"Yes well the shower is a definite plus," she stated. "Speaking of which I do believe I'll go take one right now."

"Have fun," Harry said as she got up and headed out the door. Harry continued to read through his dad's notes when a few moments later he heard the door open again. He looked up and saw Hermione's arm reach in and drop a brassiere and knickers onto the floor. Listening to her giggle as she ran through the living room and into the bathroom where he heard the door closed Harry blushed while shaking his head. There was still so much he didn't know about his bushy haired friend.


	4. Chapter 19: Clues at Last

**Chapter 19: Clues at Last**

The next day Harry pulled out the 'Invisibility Cloak' file again while Hermione continued to search the house for any other clues. Going off Harry's luck she went upstairs to what appeared to be his mother's sewing room and began to rifle through the mounds of paper that littered the shelves. A few times she found the word 'horcruxes' on a piece of paper and she would come and show it to Harry. It seemed clear that his mother had indeed been doing some research on horcruxes for one reason or another the problem was that everything appeared to be very unorganized, at least to the ever logical Hermione.

Harry, meanwhile, was digging deeper and deeper into the many pages of notes that were in the file. Mostly they contained different tests his father had done on the cloak and attempts to trace where it came from. From what he could tell it had been passed on from parent to child for generations but the first mention of it seemed to come from an Ignotus Peverell. Since he knew that Hermione was the master of all things history he asked her about the name. "It sounds familiar," she said as she searched the reaches of her mind. "Let me check a few of my books." So she went out into the living room and pulled out her mobile library.

In the meantime Harry grabbed hold of the snitch and took a closer look at it. Again he tried everything he could think of to try and open it up. Since what made them special was their flesh memories he decided that shooting magic at it wasn't likely to have much of an affect. So instead he focused on what he could do while physically touching it. He turned it, twisted it, put the whole thing back in his mouth and again nearly choked on it but nothing more seemed to happen other than, 'I open at the close.'

He was just about ready to start jumping on the thing out of frustration when Hermione squealed, "Here he is." Harry jumped up and ran over to sit next to her on the sofa she was sitting on. "Ignotus Peverell was a well-known and highly regarded magical manufacturer in his day," she read. "He is credited with the creation of many magical items most notably the flying carpet," she continued. "Together with his two brothers they formed the highest grossing magical manufacturing plant in the 13th century before their untimely deaths."

"He had two brothers?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Yes," Hermione said as she continued to look through the book. "Antioch and Cadmus. They all worked together until Antioch was murdered in his sleep and Cadmus committed suicide…" she said trailing off.

"Hermione that's them. That's the three brothers from the story."

"Harry I don't know," she said cautiously.

"Oh come on look. They were magical manufacturers so they might have been able to create objects like the hallows. One brother was murdered, another committed suicide and the other lived out his life. It all fits," he exclaimed.

"Harry look at this," she said pointing at a small table listing some basic facts about the Peverell brothers on the side.

"Buried at the cemetery of their family's hometown Godric's Hollow," Harry read aloud. "This is them Hermione, I'm sure of it and Ignotus is my great, great, however many times grandfather. This is his cloak," Harry cried holding up the invisibility cloak. "And the stone is in there," he continued pointing at the flying snitch. "And if we can somehow find the elder wand then we'll be the 'Masters of Death'."

"Yeah but Harry, even if they are and we do what does that even mean, 'Masters of Death'?" she asked.

He went to keep right on arguing but found himself stumped. Finally he said, "Well I don't know. But when you face death as often as we do I feel like being the masters of it can't really be a bad thing can it?" he asked with a slight smirk.

"You may have a point there," Hermione said with a grin. "Come on 'Master of Death' let's have some lunch," she said as she stood up and put the book down on the coffee table. Harry smiled and took her hand and she led them into the kitchen where they had a pleasant lunch.

After they ate they both went up to the sewing room and tried to figure out some sort of organization to the madness. After laying out all the papers that had the word 'horcrux' they found that many of them where written on the same yellow colored paper. They went back through the rest of the piles and found the pieces of yellow paper and laid them all out. Together they were slowly able to piece together some semblance of an order that his mother had been thinking. "She heard Snape talking about them," Hermione said as they combed through the many pages.

"Well that would make sense," Harry replied. "He went to school with my Mom and Dad and I'll bet you he was already talking to Riddle before he even left school. And if Dumbledore's right then there's a good chance he had already made a few of them before my parents and he were out."

"Yeah," she said still reading on. "It looks like your Mom was thinking the same thing. It looks like she had seen him three times and each time she said he looked less and less human and she was trying to figure out why."

"Yeah that's what started Dumbledore looking into it as well," Harry mentioned.

"It looks like it may have been your Mom that turned him onto the idea," she said. "Look here she talks about sharing the information with him."

"Wow yeah," Harry said while reading over her shoulder. "Seems she had the idea first."

"Harry it looks like this conversation with Dumbledore about them happened not long after you were born. That means there's a whole year before she died while she and your dad were mostly in hiding. Maybe she figured out more that she didn't tell him. There's got to be more here somewhere," she said as they flipped through more papers.

"Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are mentioned several times on this light pink colored paper," Harry said while searching for a connection.

"You're right," Hermione replied as they grabbed a few of the other pieces. So again they went through the process of finding all the light pink paper and trying to organize it. "Yeah look here. She made the connection to the founders like Dumbledore told you about. She found out that the only known relic from Hufflepuff was the goblet and that there wasn't anything known to have survived from Ravenclaw."

"Yeah but we already knew all that from Dumbledore," Harry said getting a bit frustrated.

"But not this look," she continued. "'The Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw,'" she read. "Supposedly the key to all of Rowena Ravenclaw's smarts. It disappeared centuries ago but rumors are always flying around about people supposedly finding it."

"Well that would certainly fit Riddles MO for his horcruxes, small, mobile, magically important," Harry said.

"Hold on there's more," Hermione exclaimed. "Look," she said holding up what appeared to be an old clipping from 'The Daily Prophet.' "'Gringotts Claims To Be the Most Secure Place in All the World'" Harry read looking at the title of the piece.

Hermione read on, "A Gringotts spokesgoblin claims that due to several new top secret security measures that their bank is now the most secure building in the entire world. 'Due to the recent dark times we have put into place several new security measures that would make it next to impossible to break in,' the spokesgoblin claimed. 'If anyone is looking for a place to keep their valuables completely safe Gringotts is the place.'" Hermione read. "And look when the article was written, 1946, right about the time when he was working for Borgin and Burkes and if Dumbledore is correct, right about the time he made the goblet into a horcrux."

"Hagrid mentioned something like this when I first met him. He told me that Gringotts was the safest place in world except maybe Hogwarts," Harry replied.

"And think about how special Riddle would feel if he was able to hide something like that right under the noses of everyone. Right in the heart of our world," Hermione mentioned.

"You're right," Harry said. "Well great, now all we have to do is figure out a way to break into a place that in our lifetime has only been broken into once and that time they didn't get away with anything. Oh and did I mention we have no idea where in Gringotts it might be," Harry said shaking his head.

"We should be there and back by dinner," Hermione said grinning.

"Why in the world can't we just have one easy part to this whole stupid thing?" Harry asked exasperated.

"It could be worse," Hermione replied. "It could be in Hogwarts."


	5. Chapter 20: A First Time for Everything

**A/N: Okay so I fail at getting this out in any kind of orderly fashion. I got a new job and it has taken up a lot of my time and while I certainly hope to work on this with more regularity I am going to stop promising anything. I'll post as often as I can. I have the whole idea pretty well thought out so it's just about going into details. Thanks for those that have stuck with me and sorry for the major delay. **

**By the way, in this chapter you will realize why this is a mature rated story. Nothing too graphic or anything just enough that it needed the rating. I hope you enjoy and as always I would love you advice/reviews. They really help me get my ideas in order.**

**Chapter 20: A First Time For Everything**

With a pop he was back in the orchard behind the house and walked in to find Hermione at the kitchen table.

"What did you find?" she asked looking up from the book she had been reading. They had spent the last few days taking turns aparating under the invisibility cloak to the alley next to Gringotts to try and get a better look at it.

"Well those are definitely secrecy sensors at the front door. Someone had a potion for metal eroding in their pocket and the whole place went nuts," he replied.

"Oh my, who was it?" Hermione asked.

"Someone named Angus Blaine. I've never heard of him. He claimed he had just bought it in Knockturn Alley for an old trunk he had at home that he couldn't open. I don't know if he was lying or not but they definitely wouldn't let him in with it."

"Well I guess that means we can't just sneak in," she mentioned.

"I'm still not sure. I mean I don't know if it would still detect us under the cloak. It's never let us down yet."

"But Harry if it doesn't work not only will we be caught but we'll lose a huge asset."

"Well yeah but I was thinking, we could use polyjuice potion and just try and wave the cloak in front of it, see if it sets off the alarms."

"Well I suppose," she said still reading through her books.

"Did you find out anything else?" she asked.

"Well apparently the highest security vaults are the deepest. There are four known family vaults down there and guess who two of them are?" she said smiling.

"Who?"

"The Noble House of Black and the Lestrange Family."

"No," Harry said staring wide eyed at her.

"Yep," Hermione said grinning.

"So you mean?"

"Yep, you are the rightful heir and thus owner of one of the most high security vaults at Gringotts and right down there with you just happens to be the vault of Riddle's most loyal supporter."

"Hermione we're in," Harry exclaimed.

"No Harry we're not in. Need I remind you that you are still Undesirable No. 1 and I am No. 2?" she stated emphatically. "We can't exactly just walk into Gringotts and ask to be taken to your vault."

"But don't you remember what I heard those two goblin bankers talking about the other day? They don't put a lot of heed into the matters of 'Wand Carriers,' as they said."

"So what we're just supposed to waltz into Gringotts and ask to be taken to the Black vault and then while we're down there we just say 'Hey while we're down here you mind letting us take a look around the Lestrange vault too?' No matter how much they don't like the matters of wizards I don't think they're going to let us into a vault that isn't ours."

"Well okay fine. But we're closer," Harry stated as he finally plopped down into the chair beside her. "So," he began as she continued to shuffle through more notes. "I was thinking, will you go on a date with me tonight?"

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked looking up from her notes.

"I've never had a good date," he replied. "I mean the only ones I've been on was the Yule Ball when Parvati ended up spending the evening dancing with some Drumstrag bloke and that god awful thing of a date with Cho two years ago."

"But Harry where are we supposed to go?" she asked.

He smiled, "Is that a yes?"

"Where are we going?" she insisted.

"You let me worry about that, is that a yes?"

She shook her head and grinned, "Alright fine, just please be careful."

"Great. I just need to take a quick shower but then the bathroom is all yours as long as you promise that the only other place you'll go is my parents room and even there you have to apparated."

"What are you playing at?" she asked.

"You'll see," he said smiling and he jumped up and headed into the bathroom. After taking a quick shower he pulled on some clothes and said to Hermione, "Okay it's all yours. I'll come find you in about an hour," he said excitedly.

Hermione smiled, "If you say so," she called before heading into the bathroom.

Harry got to work and sure enough an hour later he knocked on his parent's bedroom door. A few moments later the door opened and he had to take a step back. "Hermione you look… wow," he said taking all of her in with her wearing a stunning short black lace dress.

"Thanks," she said blushing and smiling.

"Where did you even?"

"I found it in the closet. It must have been your mums. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, it's… it's perfect," he said dumbfounded.

"Here," she said grabbing something from just inside the room. "This must have been your Dad's but I think it'll look great on you," she said handing him a black blazer. He smiled at her and began to pull it on and she helped him straighten it out. She grinned, "It looks great Harry."

"Thanks."

"So where are we going?" she finally asked.

"Ah yes, this way," he motioned as he offered her his arm. She took it and he led her out the backdoor.

"Miss Granger does look very lovely this evening," came a groggily voice once they stepped onto the patio.

"Kreacher, what are you doing here?" she asked looking down at the elf.

"Well apparently he's been in the cupboard at Grimmauld since we left. When he heard voices that weren't ours he hid until I summoned him," Harry replied.

"Are they still there?" she asked.

"Ah yes Miss Granger," Kreacher replied. "I hears them talking. The dark one has instructed them to keep watch in case you lot show back up. But now, follow me Miss Granger," he insisted.

So Kreacher led them into the orchard until they arrived at a small clearing where they had strung lights from the trees and in the middle had placed a small candle lit table. "Harry this is amazing," Hermione said in wonder.

"Hey I just had the idea, Kreacher here did all the work."

"Well done Kreacher," she said as the elf nodded and pulled out a chair for her. She smiled and sat down and Harry took the seat across from her.

"You really do look stunning in that dress. It's almost like it was made for you," Harry said still staring at her.

"Well I learned a few tailoring tricks when I was getting ready for the Yule Ball," she mentioned. "So I took it in just a little."

"Gosh you had Krum being the envy of I think everyone that night," he replied.

"Oh stop," she said blushing.

"I mean it. I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so beautiful."

"Well thanks," she replied. "That's what I was going for."

"Yeah I didn't think poor Ron was ever going to recover," he said trailing off.

"Yeah poor Ronald," she said in the same tone.

They both looked intently at their empty plates for a few moments until finally Harry found the words, "You know he was in love with you right?"

"He told you?" she asked.

"No, but even I'm not too dense to see that much."

"Well yeah, I suppose."

"So you knew?" he pressed.

"Yeah, I knew."

"And?"

"And it was never going to happen Harry," she replied.

"It wasn't?"

"No, never."

"Why not?"

"Because I knew eventually he would leave."

"You knew?"

"Yeah, maybe not the way he would leave or even when or why but I knew that at some point things were going to get really tough and he would leave. That's who he is. And I knew that if we ever got together at some point something would happen that wasn't so easy and he would leave and I would lose him and maybe even you as friends forever and I couldn't do that. Now even I didn't think he would actually leave us when we really needed him most like he did but I knew that he would leave."

"I suppose you're right," he mentioned.

"Of course I am. But while we're on the subject, what about Ginny?"

"What do you mean? I broke up with her last year remember."

"Yes but I know she kissed you on your birthday and I know you've been watching her dot on the Marauder's Map."

"Well yeah, that's true."

"So what is that Harry?"

He had think about how to say it for a moment because this was not something he could mess up, "The kiss well, that was goodbye. We both knew I was leaving soon and she wasn't coming along and so that was the only thing that was left between us. And watching her on the map? Well that was holding onto hope. I thought if Ginny was still out there I knew that there was someone else still fighting, that we weren't in this alone. I know that she would never give up the fight but she and I could never be together again."

"Why not?"

"Because she loves my legend not me. I mean sure we got pretty close but she still always saw me as the Chosen One first and Harry second. If we ever make it out of this war, if I can ever be just Harry, I wouldn't be the one she fell in love with any more."

"Say when not if," she said forcefully.

"I just have to…"

"Have hope," Hermione interrupted.

"Okay," he said smiling. "When."

At that moment Kreacher brought out their dinner and they continued to chat while they ate. But not about the war. They talked about life, they laughed at stories they shared but they didn't talk about what they were going through. They needed a break. They knew the next step was coming so tonight they just wanted to forget about it all.

When they had finished their desert they thanked Kreacher and Harry told him he could have the guest bedroom that was upstairs in the house. Kreacher thanked him, Hermione kissed him and they walked arm in arm back to the house. Before they walked back inside he stopped her, "Thanks Hermione. That was the best date I've ever had."

"Thanks, me too," she said smiling and he leaned down and kissed her and they kept kissing longer than they had since they had shared their first kiss. Finally they pulled away and glanced up at the stars before heading inside the house. They walked into his parent's bedroom and both kicked off their shoes and Harry pulled off the blazer and went to hang it up in the closet. "Harry could you help me with this?" He turned and saw she had her back to him and was holding up her hair, "I think the zipper's stuck," she stated.

He walked over and nervously grabbed hold of the zipper. He tried to undo it quickly but it was indeed stuck so he had to reach up and steady her with his other hand on her shoulder and tug until he was able to work it free. With such force behind it when it did come loos he pulled the zipper nearly all the way down with one tug exposing much of her bar back and the strap and hooks of a black brassier with white polka-dots on it. "Oh sorry," he quickly stated.

"No it's okay, thanks," she said reassuring him.

"I'll just let you change," he said as he started for the door.

"Harry," she called again when he was almost to the door.

"Yeah," he said turning back to see that she was now facing him with her dress handing loose.

"You can stay if you want," she said blushing and smiling at him. His feet seemed to be glued to the floor and he had forgotten how to speak. She reached up and pulled her arms from the straps of her dress and it fell around her waist revealing her brassier to him. She began to wiggle her hips and soon the dress was falling to the ground exposing a matching pair of knickers. She slowly began to walk towards him as she remained in his trance until she stepped in front of him and reached up and began to gradually undo one button of his shirt at a time until it was left hanging off him. She slipped her hands inside it and he finally found some form of movement as he helped her drop it off his shoulders. He then watched as she undid his fly and he finished it by pushing his pants to the floor. She looked up at him and finally they came together for another kiss. This kiss was unlike any Harry had ever had as they devoured each other with passion. Eventually they stumbled back and fell onto the bed while never breaking contact. They rolled around the bed for a while until finally Hermione pulled away, "Best date ever," she said grinning.

Harry laughed still catching his breath, "Definitely."

"Goodnight Harry," she said nuzzling into his arms.

"Goodnight Hermione," he said before kissing the top of her head and closing his eyes.


	6. Chapter 21: The Goblin's Secret

**A/N: Yep still alive. I won't bother with excuses, it's just life. Thanks for everyone who has stuck with the story and I'll update when I can. I haven't given up. **

**Chapter 21: The Goblin's Secret **

Harry woke up the following morning and found Hermione still asleep and spread out basically all across the bed and grinned. He had noticed that this is how she liked to sleep but being that she was now wearing just her brassier and knickers it certainly added a bit more intrigue to it. He slipped out from underneath her and noticed that all of their clothes had been cleaned up. He wanted to be mad at Kreacher for invading their privacy but quickly realized it was just in his nature and he was sure he had even noticed the sleeping couple. So rather than trying to sneak into the creaky closet and waking his sleeping beauty he just walked out to the kitchen wearing just his undershorts.

He sat down at the table that was now covered with a variety of pastries along with all their books and notes about Gringotts. 'Why didn't I think about calling for Kreacher earlier,' he thought to himself. He was just beginning to pick at the pastries and fumble through the notes when he heard the door open. He looked up to see Hermione poking her head out of the bedroom, "Hi Beautiful," he called.

"Hi," she said smiling. "Is Kreacher out there with you?"

"Nope, but there isn't a room in this place that doesn't need to be cleaned so I'm sure he's busy somewhere. He made breakfast though," he said holding up a Danish.

"Looks yummy," she said as she walked out wearing only her under garments as well.

"So do you," he said smiling as she walked over and placed a soft kiss on his lips before sitting down at the table beside him and grabbing a muffin.

Hermione began to glance through the notes with him for a few moments until she spoke up, so you really think the Gringotts goblins would just take us down to your vault?"

"Yeah I really do," Harry replied. "The issue is getting into the bank and down to the vaults without anyone seeing us."

"Where are those notes about the invisibility cloak?"

"Still in my Dad's study," he replied.

She got up and walked in there and Harry followed close behind. She sat down at the desk and Harry came up to stand behind her and look over her shoulder. After a finding the notes about the different experiments his dad had performed on the cloak she pulled one out and read it over before announcing, "I think you may be right about the cloak being able to get us into the bank. Look here," she said motioning to the page in front of her.

Harry looked down and read, "Ran cloak past dark decoy sensor, no reaction. Seems cloak is not dark, nor able to be revealed by magic."

"So it looks like it should be able to get us through the door. Do you think we could find a goblin to help us away from any other people?" Hermione asked.

"I think so, I mean the worst thing that happens is we don't find one and we leave and come back later," he stated.

"Well than I suppose we should probably get dressed."

"I don't know, it may be easier to get in if you show up dressed like that," Harry quipped.

"I don't know that the goblins would be quite as appreciative as you are," she said smiling.

"Okay fine," he said and they both headed back into the bedroom to change and get ready.

Twenty minutes later they were all set and Harry pulled the cloak in close around them before they apparated to the now familiar alleyway beside Gringotts. After waiting for a few moments they were able pass the first test as they snuck in past the secrecy sensors and through the door behind an old which. When they got inside they found a few other witches and wizards at the various counters that were occupied by a variety of goblins. Together they carefully walked around the room until finally they found one goblin off by himself. They were able to sneak around a corner and pull off the cloak before walking up to the goblin while Hermione carefully kept her eye out for other witches and wizards.

"Aw Mr. Potter," the goblin said as they approached.

"I'm sorry do I know you?" Harry asked.

"Even amongst goblin's yours is a face well known. My name is Griphook. I took you down to your vault once with the half-giant,"

"Oh, yes that was you, thanks," he said doing everything he could think of to try and butter up the goblin.

"It seems as though you have angered many wand carriers lately," Griphook mentioned.

"Uhh yeah, you're not going to call anyone on us are you?" Harry asked carefully.

"What your kind do amongst yourselves is no business of ours," he replied.

"Thank you," he said.

"So, do you wish to visit your vault?" the goblin asked.

"Yes but not the one you took me to before," Harry replied.

"No, that vault is no longer yours. Its contents were placed in the Black Family vault upon the reading of the will of one Sirius Black."

"Yes, so can you take us there?" Harry asked as Hermione turned to look hopefully.

"Of course," Griphook stated. "Please follow me." Harry and Hermione crept around the desk and were relieved to see that they were still alone. Moments later they were joining him in a cart and off speeding down the rails. The ride lasted much longer than any Harry had ever taken before but finally they reached literally the end of the line. They climbed out and looked up to see four huge doors. "The vaults of Abbot, Shacklebolt, Lestrange and Black," Griphook said pointing to each one in turn as Harry noticed that his vault was right beside that of Lestrange. Griphook fished into his pocket and pulled out a key before walking up to the door and inserting the key. With twist and a dozen or so clicks the vault door opened and Harry and Hermione's mouths hit the floor. Before them stood pile after pile of gold and jewels that stretched beyond where their eyes could see. "Take all the time you need," Griphook stated as he took a step back away from the door.

Harry and Hermione walked into the vault alone and after taking just a few steps in and around the first few piles of gold they were alone, completely out of sight of Griphook. "This is incredible," Hermione said as she picked up a necklace that was covered in jewels.

"Yeah, I knew the Black's had money but this is just inconceivable," he replied as they slowly made their way back through the vault.

It took them nearly five minutes to reach the back of the vault as they carefully looked at everything, hoping to catch sight of a mark of one of the founders. "I don't know Harry," Hermione mentioned as they picked through a few piles near the back. "I mean it's not like there was much of a chance of their being anything in here and with Griphook at the entrance we'll never be able to get through the Lestrange's door."

"I know," he said a bit dejectedly. "It just feels like we're so close but nowhere nearer. I don't know maybe if we…" but suddenly words failed him as he walked around the last pile of gold in the vault.

"Maybe if we what?" Hermione asked as she walked up behind Harry before she too stopped in her tracks. In front of them, in the furthest most reach of the vault was a hole cut into the stone in the direction of the Lestrange vault. "Harry do you think…" Hermione began but he was already looking over his shoulder before ducking into the hole. A few moments later they were climbing out the other side into an equally large and impressive vault. "Harry what is going on here?"

"I'm not sure," he said gazing around this new vault. "But we're surely the first people to be in the Black vault in ages and look," he said motioning down to the hole. "There's clear footprints in the soot, someone has used that hole recently." They both looked around the hole. "I think someone from this side wanted to look around the Black vault. It doesn't look like they took anything from over there and they clearly didn't need any more gold. Maybe they thought Regulus had something from for Riddle, or maybe they were looking for something else for him to use."

"But I thought these vaults were supposed to be the most secure ones. How did the goblins not notice?"

"They are more concerned with people getting into the vaults or even getting to them in the first place. But once you're inside it doesn't appear they much care what you do. After all, why would the wealthiest families want to steal from each other?" he asked as they began to take a few steps into the vault.

As they rounded the first pile of gold they saw it, standing up on a podium all by itself was a goblet. As they walked closer they saw that several badgers adorning the sides of the cup. Harry picked it up and felt the same energy pulse through him that came from the locket. "This is it Hermione," he said handing it over to her.

"Harry, we found it," she exclaimed.

"Let's look around," he said. "Maybe there's more." They spent a few minutes quietly looking all around the vault. They found some rather dark looking objects but diadems or anything else with any of the founder's marks on them. They walked back to the goblet, "How do we get this out of here?" he asked.

They both thought for a few moments before Hermione announced, "The cloak, it makes everything under it undetectable," she said as she pulled the cloak back out. "If we just wrap the goblet inside of it nothing they have to detect us taking something that isn't ours will be disturbed," she said wrapping the goblet tight in the cloak and placing it back in her bag.

They climbed back through the hole and made their way back up to the entrance of the Black vault. They each grabbed a few handfuls of gold as they went just so they could get everything they needed on the outside. They looked at each other just before rounding the last corner and took a deep breath. "Did you find everything you came for?" Griphook asked when they walked out.

"Yes we did, thank you," Harry replied.

"I do hope that everything in there was as you expected," Griphook stated looking carefully at both of them.

"Don't know that we expected anything," Harry said looking back at the goblin.

"Well then, I hope everything worked out for you then."

"It did," Harry said nodding as the three of them climbed back into cart.

Griphook pushed the lever forward and it swiftly rolled back through the maze and up to the marble floors of the bank. "Thank you Griphook," Harry said as they climbed out. "And thank you for keeping this quiet."

"I don't know what you mean," Griphook said as he walked back over to the counter.

This left Harry and Hermione completely alone and they were able to pull the cloak out and swing it over themselves. Harry caught the goblet as it unfurled from the cloak and they carefully made their way out of the bank. Once on the street it was back into the alley and with a crack they were back in Godric's Hollow. They flung off the cloak and Harry placed the goblet on the table. "Four down," Hermione said smiling.

"And only two more to go," Harry continued.

"Then all we have to do is find Riddle."

"And kill a man who's done absolutely everything in his power to make sure he can never die."

"Like we said, should be done by Tuesday," she said smiling.


	7. Chapter 22: Every Last Inch

**A/N: See when I have time I can actually produce. Wish I could say it will continue to be like this but alas we all know it won't but again thanks for sticking with me. Seems as though people are actually pretty into this story so I will do everything I can to push through it at a bit of a faster pace than I have been. No promises though. Thanks as always for reading.**

**Chapter 22: Every Last Inch**

Their successful trip into Gringotts revitalized the duo and they found over the next few days that they were more encouraged than they had been in months. While in actuality they were still no closer to finding the last horcrux or even to destroying the two they currently had the feeling of finally having some level of success meant that they felt they had a reason to keep going. Over the next few days they continued to scour through all of the notes in his parent's house but they seemed to have run dry. Finally on the Tuesday they were to finish Harry announced, "I want to go back to Gringotts. I think there may be something more there. I mean we felt so rushed the other day I'm afraid we missed something."

"Oh but Harry we were so lucky the first time. Do you really think we should risk it again?" Hermione questioned.

"No, I don't think we should, I think I should."

"Harry I'm not leaving you alone."

"Hermione just listen. If I go alone I think I may have an easier time. You can stay here and focus on trying to find where the elder wand might be. I can go alone and search the vaults and if something happens it will be a whole lot easier for me to apparate by myself rather than having two people together."

"Oh you may be right," Hermione said dejectedly. "I hate it when you're right. Just promise me that you'll be back in two hours, if you're not I'm taking polyjuice and coming after you."

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "You just see if you can find that stupid wand."

"Okay, be careful," she said leaning up and giving him a kiss.

Then, after throwing the invisibility cloak over himself, with a crack he was back in the alley. Just as before he snuck into the bank behind another patron and he made his way towards the back of the bank. He found Griphook off by himself again and as he approached him he looked around before ducking and pulling off the cloak. "Aww Mr. Potter, back so soon?"

"I need to go to my vault again," he stated directly.

"Yes I thought you may have left something behind," Griphook mentioned.

Harry looked at the goblin curiously, "No just wanted to look around it a bit more you know, explore my new possessions."

"Aw yes, it is good to know what is really yours," the goblin said as they walked to the cart.

A few minutes later they were in front of the vault again and, after Griphook opened the door Harry turned to him and said, "I may be in there a while, as I'm sure you know it's quite large."

"Yes, and it seems as though it grows each time you enter."

Again Harry looked at the curious creature before heading into the vault. This time he took his time to go over every inch of the vault he could. He dug through piles of gold and silver and strained his neck to look around over and through as many of the jewels as he could. When he reached the back of the vault again he ducked through the hole and did the same process through the Lestrange vault. After reaching the front of the vault he looked down at his watch. It had been an hour and a half since he had left, if he didn't get going soon Hermione would be coming after him and he definitely did not want to put her in that danger so he began to make his way back.

He was about to duck through the hole again when he noticed something. There was another small tunnel next to the one that led back to the Black vault. _How did we miss this yesterday? _Harry thought to himself. But there was simply no way. While going from the Black vault to the Lestrange vault it may be easy to walk right past as you ducked down to go through this way it was right in front of you. _"… it seems as though it grows each time you enter." _Harry thought back to what Griphook had told him. What did he know? What was he playing at? Harry ducked down into the new tunnel. This one went straight into the back of the vault but judging by how dark it was it didn't lead anywhere. He pulled out his wand and whispered, "Lumos." Just a few short feet back he reached another wall and he turned to the jut to the left and looked down in astonishment. There just resting against the back most wall of this little tunnel sat the Sword of Gryffindor.

Harry picked it up and examined it. There was the rubies encrusting the hilt and just at the beginning of the blade Godric Gryffindor wan engraved just as clearly as it had been the first time Harry had seen the sword. Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. He quickly scooted back into the vault so he could examine it closer. Everything seemed to check out, he rapped his hand on it, it felt solid, in gleamed in the light of the torches, and it matched the silver of the sickles around him. He pulled out the cloak and slid the sword into it. It was a little awkward but with a bit of wiggling around he was able to slide the sword down his trousers so that it didn't make him have to move too awkwardly.

He looked down at his watch again, only 15 minutes until Hermione would be coming after him and it would take nearly that long to get out of the bank. He set off back through the tunnel and into the Black vault. Then as best he could with the sword down his leg he ran back to the front of the vault. Just before rounding the last pile he slowed and tried to catch his breath before walking around and out the door. "Aw Sir, did you find anything interesting?" Griphook asked examining Harry as he walked out.

"Oh a few things I'll have to come back and check out more," he stated trying to keep his cool.

"You seem to be limping a bit there sir, is everything alright?" Griphook asked.

He was caught and he knew it. The goblin must have put the sword there to see if he was going into the other vault. It was a trap and Harry had fallen right into it. "Um I twisted my ankle jumping down from one of the piles," he lied. He knew he was fooling no one and all he could think about it how he was headed to Azkaban and Hermione was going to be coming after him and there would be nothing she could do and now she would be completely on her own and he had let the whole world down and..

"Aw well I hope the exploration was worth it at least and that you found something useful," Griphook said before closing the door and turning to walk back towards the cart. Harry was perhaps more stunned now than he had been when he found the sword, he was letting him go. He had to know but he was letting him go. Why, why would he do this? He knew Harry had something that didn't belong to him, though Dumbledore had tried to give it to him in his will, but still Goblin's surly wouldn't take any stock in that. "Are you coming Mr. Potter?" Griphook asked from the cart.

Harry shook his head and glanced down at his watch, seven minutes til two hours. "Umm yes of course," he said limping over as fast as he could. The whole ride up to the bank Harry racked his brain trying to decide why Griphook was letting him go and at the same time wishing this cart, which he had always felt was going plenty fast, would somehow hurry up. When they rounded the last corner he looked down at his watch again, two minutes. "Thank you sir," Harry said to the Goblin the second the cart stopped as he jumped out of it awkwardly.

"Ah yes and good luck in all your endeavors sir," Griphook called as Harry stumbled away.

He found a hidden corner and pulled the cloak and sword back out and through the cloak over his head. He broke into a run across the marble floor and escaped out the door. He looked down at his watch again bounded down the stairs, one minute past, _Oh please don't be already here_, he though as he rounded the corner into the alley.

With a crack he was on the front porch or his parents house and he through open the door and tore off the cloak "Hermione!" he yelled and he saw her standing there wand up.

"Oh Harry," she called just as her face began to bubble.

Harry looked to the table beside her and saw the unmistakable remnants of the green sludge of polyjuice potion. "Oh Hermione I'm sorry," he said walking over to her as her face continued to bubble. "I got held up."

"It's okay," she said as her hair turned blonde. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Who are you turning into?" he asked as she grew an inch or two and her body seemed to be filling out.

"It's a lady I saw a lot of men drooling over at the store the other day," she said as her body finally settled. "I figured it might be easier to get information without raising suspicion if I looked like this."

As much as Harry didn't want to admit it she certainly was quite the looker at the moment. "Well I don't think you realize how much drooling you cause in your own right," he quickly stated.

"Well aren't you just sweet," she replied. "But being as I'm on the Undesirable list I figured this might be better."

"How much did you take?" Harry asked noticing for the first time that the glass was quite large.

"Well I didn't know what I'd be getting into and I've been making more of the potion since we got here so I just took the rest of what we had."

"And how much is that?" he asked.

"Six or seven hours worth," she said blushing.

"Oh my," Harry said choking slightly. "Well then, this will be an interesting evening then."

"Harry Potter are you blushing?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly doing everything he could not to stare.

"Sometimes I wonder how boys ever get anything done. I mean you should have seen the guys at the store looking at this woman. Two of them literally ran into one another."

"Oh come on Hermione it's not like you don't take advantage of your feminine wiles every now and then Miss I'll just drop my under garments through the door," Harry said defensively.

"I'll bet you wish you could see me in my under garments now," she said teasing and shaking her hips. Harry shook his head and blushed more. "By the way Harry, is that a sword in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot…"


	8. Chapter 23: What Lies In the Horcrux

**A/N: Well hopefully this satisfies all of you for a few days at least. I won't be able to write again until Monday but I'm hoping to get a few more chapters out next week. Everyone's encouragement has revitalized me and gotten me back into this story so thanks for that. One side note, I think I write better fluff and romance than action which is why this story has much more of the former than the original but hopefully there's enough action that it at least keeps you guessing a little. I've also gone further off the source material than I planned on, that's certainly no knock on Ms Rowling and let's be honest here, her story is a zillion times better than mine but hopefully this is a fun little different idea of what could have happened. As always please let me know what you think, it's always great to hear feedback. **

**Chapter 23: What Lies In the Horcrux **

Hermione was overjoyed with the news that Harry had found the sword and they spent the rest of the evening celebrating their win. And even though Harry told her that it felt like he was cheating on her the managed to sneak in a little kissing as well.

The next morning they awoke with Hermione back to her normal self and a new objective, "We have to destroy the horcruxes Harry," Hermione said at the breakfast table.

"I know, but I'm nervous about it," he replied.

"Why?" she asked. "Now that we have the sword shouldn't it just be as simple as stabbing the locket and cup with it?"

"I don't know. I fear whatever's imprinted on them will fight back in some way," he mentioned. "Before I destroyed the diary that bit of soul fought me with everything it could."

"But Harry, how can a soul fight?"

"I don't know. I mean I can't explain it. I just don't think it's going to be as easy as we would like it to be."

"Well then perhaps we should take them into the orchard," Hermione offered.

"Okay, we just need to be careful." With that they cleaned up breakfast and went into the bedroom to change before grabbing the goblet, locket and sword and heading out into the orchard. "I'll do the first one," Harry stated and he set the locket down on an old stump and lifted the sword. _Maybe if I just hit it with all my might I can take care of it before it has a chance to fight_, he thought to himself. So he raised the sword as high as he could and with one mighty blow came down on the locket.

It burst open and black smoke began to pour out of it before Voldemort himself came slithering out. "No, it's a trap!" Harry yelled as the figure that was truly more snake then man solidified in front of him and a haze formed around them. He watched in horror as Riddle marched towards Hermione, wand raised, eyes filled with anger. He wanted to jump in front of her, to slam Riddle to the ground but he was struck numb, unable to move. There was nothing he could do as he saw the words forming in those hideous lips, "Avada Kedavra" and the green light shot from Riddle's wand straight into Hermione's chest.

She fell instantly and so did Harry. It was done, it was over. All he had wanted to do was keep her safe but the chosen one couldn't even do that. He was a fraud as he knew he had been all along. He had tried to tell everyone to stay away from him, that Riddle was after him and there was nothing he could do about it, that he would seek out the ones he loved most just to get this pathetic git of a man he was. He glanced at Riddle and saw him smiling. No wait, he wasn't just smiling, he was laughing. He was laughing at killing someone, killing the one. Seeing that joy brought out a level of hate Harry didn't even know he had. He didn't care that there were still horcruxes out there. He didn't care that there was nothing he could conceivably do to stop him. All he knew was that he needed to cause him pain and the sword that was still in his hands seemed as good a tool as any. He knew it was a death wish but he didn't care.

Taking one last look at his love lying unmoving just feet from him Harry summoned every last ounce of strength he could and charged, sword raised at the evil. He watched as he turned to him and the joy was replaced by shock. Riddle raised his wand but Harry was faster. The sword came down through the top of Riddles head and he sliced through his body before Harry fell again now so overcome with emotion that he couldn't even lift his head. He cried like he had never cried before. He sobbed and sobbed and didn't even notice the haze around him clearing. He couldn't even tell that the morning sun was trickling through the trees. And when he felt a hand touch his shoulder he knew that it was Riddle coming to finish the job. All he wanted to do was cry but he didn't want to give Riddle the satisfaction so he steeled his eyes and prepared to look into the face of evil as it ended his life. He lifted his head but suddenly someone else helped him lift it as well and through the sun he saw the definition of beauty in his brunette love looking back on him.

"Hermione," he screamed again wrapping his arms around her. "You're alive."

"Of course I'm alive," she mumbled into his chest. "What happened?"

"You died, Riddle killed you and then I sliced through him with the sword. What'd you see?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied. "As soon as you hit the locket a dense fog surrounded you and I couldn't get through it. I was afraid it was poison or something but then just a few moments later it went away and you were just lying in a heap."

"I thought you were dead," Harry said still shaking.

"Well I'm not, but I'm pretty sure that bit of Riddle is," she said motioning over to where the locket now lay, wide open and completely stained black.

"That was quite the fight it put up," Harry mentioned.

"I think I should do the goblet," Hermione stated.

"Hermione no, I can't let you do that."

"It's okay Harry. You are clearly in no state to go through that again and even though I know it will be scary it'll be over before we know it. We just need to end this."

He looked into her eyes and saw the determination that he had always admired. There really was no saying no to her once she had made up her mind. "Make it quick," he said handing her the sword.

She kissed him on the cheek and rose and walked over to the cup. Harry watched as she took a mighty swing at it and then just as she had described a fog formed around her completely obscuring her and the Goblet from his view. He got up and pushed on the fog and found it completely impenetrable. But then just as he began to worry about what it might be it was gone and all that was left was two pieces of a blackened cup and Hermione in the fetal position balling her eyes out. He immediately reached out and wrapped his arms around her, "It's okay Love, it wasn't real, it wasn't real," he repeated.

"Harry," she said excitedly at first. "Oh Harry," she called before sobbing into his shoulder.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It was all of them, Riddle Bellatrix, Snape, Lucius, Greyback, everyone. They killed you and then took turned desecrating your body. I was so scared of who they would go after next, after me of course so when they all gathered around your body I swung the sword through all of them. Was it really just a moment like it was for you?" she asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"Yes, I barely had enough time to worry about you."

"Oh my, it felt like forever. The war was over and we had lost and there was nothing I could do about it," she said.

"But it's not Hermione and there is. We just took two giant steps and now there's only two left before the colossal leap.

She finally was able to pull her head away from his shoulder as the crying abruptly stopped. "We can do this Harry. I know we can."

"As long as I have you I feel like I can do anything," he replied smiling at her.

She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in to kiss her hard and they both fell back onto the ground. They kissed passionately withering all around the orchard floor now completely lost in one another and Harry desperately didn't want it to end. "Oh I am very sorry masters," came the grumbling voice of Kreacher, causing them both to freeze in place. "I do not wish to disturb you but there is news from Grimmauld Place."

Harry smiled down at a deeply blushing Hermione, "Yes Kreacher thank you. Go wait in the kitchen, we'll be right in."

"Of course sir," they heard the elf say.

They looked down at each other and began to laugh at once, "Well I suppose if we're going to get caught by someone it's best to be caught by someone so obedient," Harry said through the laughter.

"Yeah and I'm sure he doesn't quite get the same joy out of seeing me like this that you do," Hermione mentioned.

"I don't know," Harry said leaning up and to see that Hermione's shirt had risen to under her arms revealing her pink brassier. "I don't think there's too many that wouldn't enjoy that," he said grinning.

"Oh stop," she exclaimed as she pushed him the rest of the way off and pulled down her shirt. "Come on, this sounds important."

"So was that," he said with a smirk.

"Harry," she said shaking her head as she got to her feet.

"Okay but I still want to celebrate."

"Let's see if we still have a reason to celebrate first," she said helping him up.

"Always the killjoy," he replied as he grabbed the burned goblet and locket and followed her back down the path that led to the house.

When they reached the porch she spun around, dropped the sword and grabbed Harry's face, pulling him in for a deep kiss. Harry was just begging to reciprocate and was about to drop everything in his hands when she let go of his face and pulled away. "I'm glad you're alive," she said smiling.

"Yeah well at this point if I'm not I may prefer it," he stated. She smiled and reached down to pick up the sword again and went to open the door. Harry reached out and gave her butt a playful swat. She turned back to glare menacingly at him, "That was making me wait," he said smiling.

"Oh you'll thank me later," she said grinning before they finally headed back in the house.


	9. Chapter 24: What They Have to Do

**Chapter 24: What They Have to Do**

Kreacher was scrubbing the sink when they found him in the kitchen, "Kreacher you know you don't have to clean all the time right?" Harry asked.

"It is what gives me meaning," he grunted in response.

"Okay just as long as you know that I don't expect it of you," he said with a glance at a smiling Hermione.

"Yes sir," her replied.

"So tell us, what has happened at Grimmauld?"

"Well I went back last night to make sure they was not disturbing any of Master Regulus' things when the snake man showed up."

"Riddle was in Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked.

"Well I believe they called him something else. I think I heard them say Volde…"

"Yes that's Riddle, what was he doing there?" Harry pressed.

"He met with the mangy women. I believe he called her Bellatrix and he punished her. He used the cruciatus curse on her because she allowed someone into her vault." Harry and Hermione smiled at each other. "He was very upset by this. He said now he had to go check on the others."

"What others?" Hermione asked.

"He does not say but he said he would go to the cave and the house first and then to Hogwarts. He says he must check on them all. He tells Bellatrix that she is to inform Severus that he will be there tomorrow night and that he will need to drop the protections for him to get in."

"And you're sure he said he's going to Hogwarts tomorrow night?" Harry asked.

"Yes sir. He then went up and slept in me Mistresses room while the mangy women went to Master Regulus'. That is why I had to wait until now to come back. I had to make sure she did not take anything from Master Regulus. They both left this morning, the snake man with his snake and he told the mangy women he would see her tomorrow night."

Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a few moments before Harry finally said, "Thank you Kreacher, you've done a great job. If you hear anything else please let us know."

"Yes Master Harry," he replied and with another pop he was gone.

Harry's mind was racing as he put his head in his hands trying to clear his head. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say so luckily Hermione spoke first. "He's checking on all the other horcruxes isn't he?"

What?" Harry asked shaking his head clear.

"The other horcruxes, you said Dumbledore found the ring in an old abandoned house and that you found the locket in a cave. He's going to go see if they've been discovered as well."

"It certainly sounds like it," Harry replied.

"And then he's going to Hogwarts. The last horcrux other than the snake, the thing from Ravenclaw, probably that diadem, it must be there."

"I can't think of any other reason he would go there. It's been in my head for weeks now but it was like he was afraid of it," he stated.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Well it's just that images of Hogwarts kept flashing through my mind. He kept thinking about it but every time he did I felt fear. I don't know why but I think he's afraid to go to Hogwarts."

"Harry you're still seeing into his mind? I thought that had stopped. I thought you were keeping him out. You know he could use that against you. You know he already has."

"It's not something I can control Hermione," he said feeling slightly frustrated. "Believe me, I've tried to use legilimency but it's no use. It's like any time I try to build a barrier something breaks it down and there's nothing I can do about it. But again, it's almost always fear that I feel. It's like he's just as afraid of the connection as I am. It's not like before. It's not like when I felt everything. I mean I didn't feel the anger at Bellatrix. It's just the fear."

"You mean he's afraid of you?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean maybe. He did hear that part of the prophecy but I think he fears just the connection more. I don't think he wants me in his mind any more than I want to be there."

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes and saw what he was talking about. There was a very real fear there and she wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay Harry, it's okay," she repeated over and over again as they held onto each other for quite some time.

Finally Harry broke his silence, "I have to go to Hogwarts," he said clearly.

"But Harry," Hermione cried pulling away and looking him in the eyes. "You're the most wanted man in England. They'll take you straight to him as soon as they see you."

"I know Hermione but I have to go. All of our friends are there, and the teachers and Hagrid and who knows maybe even Ron by now and if Riddle shows up there none of them will be safe. He'll be furious by the time he gets there. He'll go after everyone I've ever had any contact with just to get information from them. No one else is going to die for me Hermione, no one."

"But Harry how would we even get in there, it's not exactly like we can go through the front gates."

"No you're staying here Hermione," he quickly retorted. She responded with one of her looks. "I mean it," he insisted. "I'll go in, help as many people as I can out and then come back here."

"Harry, I'm not letting you out of my sight so you can just forget about it," she stated. "So how do you plan to get in?"

Harry studied her face. He knew it well and he knew she was right, she was going. "Riddle is giving us the opening," he finally replied. "Kreacher said he's having Snape take the protections down tomorrow so he can get in. That means we won't have to go through the front gates. We'll be able to apparate wherever we want."

He watched as she searched her head for a flaw in this plan until finally she relented, "We should go into the Gryffindor common room. Everyone there should still be on our side."

"We'll start trying in the morning and if we can't get in we'll try again every half hour so that hopefully we'll have plenty of time before Riddle gets there to get people out."

…

They spent the rest of the afternoon getting everything ready they thought they might need. While they hoped to be back by the evening they had been in this fight long enough to know that very little ever went totally to plan so they tried to get ready for anything. Hermione fully emptied out her bag for the first time since before they had left the Burrow. They reorganized everything and added the all the notes they had found about both the horcruxes and hallows just in case there was any time.

As the sun fell Kreacher reappeared and made them dinner. They sat down at the table and ate but Harry was paying very little attention to his food. He couldn't take his eyes off the brunette beauty before him. He watched as she picked at her food, carefully spinning the noodles onto her fork before ensuring she had the right amount of sauce then meticulously placing the perfect bite into her mouth. She chewed all of her food completely before swallowing it then going for a drink. Then the process began again. It like everything else in her life was meticulously planned out, ensuring the least amount of surprise possible and then it struck him, "Hermione what are you still doing here?" he blurted out.

"We aren't leaving until the morning," she quickly stated.

"No I don't mean that. I mean what are you still doing here with me?"

"Harry we've been over this," she stated. "I can't imagine my life without you."

"But why? Everything in your life is so planned out, everything has its place and no thought or movement is wasted. So what are you doing here with me when my life seems to be the exact opposite?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Think about it Hermione. Ever since I was born my life has been one long race to the next time I'm going to be in some unpredictable life or death situation. I mean in the time you've known me I've dragged you down some unknown trapdoor, had you facing a basilisk, trying to save my wanted Godfather, avoiding dragons, breaking into the Ministry for magic, twice, and then following me all over the countryside in search of something I wasn't even sure was real. Why would you put up with that? Why not just sit back and plan out the better ways to do things that I'm sure you know rather than follow along with my randomly stress concocted ideas?"

He expected her to carefully consider her answer, to do what was logical but this time he saw something new in her eyes, "Because I'd do anything for you Harry. I don't care where you think you've led me. I don't care what dangers you think you put me in. I'm a big girl, I could have said no but I would never dream of it Harry."

"But why?"

"Because Harry," she burst out. "You've taught me something so much more important and real than anything I could have ever learned in a book. You taught me that it's passion that really matters. That's the reason you're still alive Harry and therefore why we're all still alive, passion. I've watched you believe in what you are doing so strongly that somehow you always find a way, even when there's no earthly reason why you should. Think about it, you've' faced the man most people only see once six times now and every time you've won, every time he's failed because you wouldn't allow the world to hurt. Yes Harry people have died fighting the same battle we are fighting now but it certainly is not your fault. What is your fault is that so many more continue to live and to fight. We can't give up because you will never give up Harry and I'll never give up on you."

"But what if I let everyone down? What if the prophecy is just words and I can't do it? Riddle knows magic I could never dream of. What if he wins?"

Hermione stood up and walked right over to Harry and sat down in his lap and looked directly in his eyes as tears formed in hers. "He'll never win Harry. He may kill again, it could be you, it could be me, but someone will get him, somehow, someway."

"It could be you?" he asked a tear now forming in his eye.

"It could be you," she repeated, tears now falling down her cheeks.

He pulled her in to kiss the tears away from her cheeks but she turned so that their lips met. They began to kiss deeper than they had ever kissed before. He felt lost in her and he never wanted to be found. After a while he stood up with her still in his arms and carefully carried her into the bedroom. He stayed connected to her as he set her on the bed and climbed on top of her. After a long while, with their clothes now strewn around the room they fell asleep in each other's arms. Harry didn't have any nightmares that night. He didn't dream about Riddle or Snape, or even about Hogwarts. He just slept deeply while breathing in her beautiful scent and for the night at least, without a care in the world.


	10. Chapter 25: The End of the Beginning

**A/N: Just a quick thanks to all who have stuck with this story. Your encouragement has really inspired me to finish this. I kinda know now how it's all gonna play out so it's just about getting time to write now in the midst of actual life but hopefully I'll have it all done within a week or two, but of course, no promises. Thank again and I hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter 25: The End of the Beginning **

When he woke the next morning the last thing in the world he wanted to do was get up. Still sleeping peacefully on his chest was Hermione, her bare chest rising and falling in rhythm against his. There were precious few moments in his life when he hat felt truly at peace, when everything felt exactly as it should that he hated to break the trance. This was especially true on a morning such as this. After their talk last night he realized now more than ever that he couldn't be sure how many deep breaths he had left. He hoped more for Hermione's sake than his own that they would be in and out of Hogwarts before Riddle even arrived but nothing was certain. What if they ran into Snape or Bellatrix? What would happen to them then? He was determined to avoid more death but the beauty lying in his arms had helped him come to realize that this was a war and as such there are unfortunate casualties. He just hoped he wouldn't have to face any of those today.

Taking a few more deep breaths and breathing in the scent of his love once more he carefully tried to slide out from under her. It was futile he knew and sure enough as he climbed out of bed he saw her stir and then her eyes open. "Mmm good morning Love," she said smiling up at him.

"Morning Love," he replied as he began to gather up his clothes from the night before. "How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Never better," she said smiling. "You?"

"The same," he replied. "I was just going to jump in the shower real quick," he stated.

"Be right there," she said as she slowly climbed out of the bed as well. Harry walked into the bathroom and was brushing his teeth when a few moments later Hermione walked in still in her birthday suit. He smiled at her as she came around to brush her teeth as well. They climbed into the shower and got themselves ready for the day and an hour or so later they were ready to go.

They stood in the kitchen and Hermione reminded him for at least the fifth time, "Okay so if we get separated for more than five minutes we apparate straight back here and regroup."

"I know Hermione," he said leaning smiling at her. "And don't worry, I wouldn't let that cute butt out of my site," he said giving her a soft peck.

Grabbing each other's hands Hermione raised her wand and gave it a wave and Harry felt the usual unnerving feeling of being pulled through a hole by the belly-button but just as quickly he felt himself being placed down in the same spot. "What happened?" he asked.

"The protections must still be up," Hermione replied. "It just sort of felt like I bounced off a wall and came straight back."

"We'll try again in a half hour," he stated and released her hand.

For the next half hour all he could really do was pace. He kept trying to go over plans in his head but he just felt so hopeless. A half an hour later they tried again with the same result. This time Hermione pulled out Hogwarts: A History and began to pour through the pages for what Harry was sure was the thousandth time. Harry kept pacing until they tried again in another half hour, same result. "Harry what if Snape doesn't take that particular protection down?" Hermione finally asked.

"He has to," Harry replied. "It would be the only way Riddle could get in unnoticed by anyone."

So they waited and tried again in another half hour, same result. More than worrying about not getting in Harry was beginning to worry that they would get in too late. He started to fear showing up at the same time as Riddle and not having any time to get anyone out. _This has to work_, he thought to himself while at the same time knowing things were starting to look rather dicey. Two more times they tried and two more times they failed and now Kreacher was making them lunch which they both ate in silence. It was nearing one in the afternoon when they tried again and again Harry felt his feet hit the floor but this time when he opened his eyes he saw the faces of three very shocked Gryffindors.

"We made it," Hermione stated.

"Finally," Harry exclaimed. He looked into the faces of the students they had barged in on and realized one of them was Jimmy Peaks, his former teammate. "Jimmy," he quickly cried. "Where is everyone?"

"Harry, how did you get her?" a bewildered Jimmy asked.

"No time to explain right now Jimmy, is everyone at their lessons?"

"No, most people up in their dormitories. It's lunch time but exams are coming up so most people are studying."

Harry looked at Hermione, "Go find anyone in the girl's dormitory that you think may be able to help us. We need to make a plan."

"Okay," she replied leaning up to kiss him and without another word they each split off and ran to the dormitories.

Harry went straight for the seventh year dormitory at the top of the stairs and burst through the door. Two very surprised wizards raised their wands at once. "Neville Seamus it's okay it's me," he cried.

"Harry, is that really you?" Neville asked not lowering his wand.

"Yes it's me," he exclaimed hurriedly.

"What spell did Hermione use on me in our first year?" he asked.

A grin appeared on Harry's mouth, "Petrificus totalus," he replied. "Still really sorry about that by the way."

A smile came over Neville's face and he dropped his wand, "Harry it really is you," he said as he ran over and shook his hand.

"But what on earth are you doing here?" Seamus asked shaking Harry's hand as well.

"And how did you get here?" Neville asked.

"I don't have time to explain everything but to make a long story short the protections are down right now because Riddle is coming," he stated.

"You-Know-Who is coming here?" Seamus asked.

"Yes and we need to make a plan."

"But how?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know but we need to figure out something. Hermione is getting the girls. Let's go meet them in the common room."

"Umm Harry I don't know that that's the greatest idea. We can't exactly trust all of the Gryffindors anymore?"

"Why?" he asked.

"Well it's kinda hard to explain but there was some resorting done this year and well we just don't really know everyone any more," Neville continued.

"Well then where are we going to go then?" Harry asked.

"Why not the Room of Requirement?"

"Neville I can't exactly go wondering the halls."

"So don't. If the protections are down you can apparate. I'll just go there first and make it open for us," Neville replied.

"You can do that?" Harry asked.

"Of course I can," he said confidently.

"Okay go do that then. Seamus you go down and meet Hermione and tell her the plan. Tell her to take whoever we can trust and meet us there. Then bring whichever guys we can still trust and meet me back here."

"Okay, I'll send out the signal when I'm ready," Neville stated.

"What signal?" Harry asked. Both Neville and Seamus grinned as they reached into their pockets and pulled out a gold galleon. "Are those really the…" Harry began and they both nodded in response. "Brilliant. Okay, go quickly but try not to draw any attention to yourselves."

And with that the two boys took off out the door. Harry paced the room for a few minutes until it opened again a few minutes later with Seamus followed by the Creevey brothers, and Jimmy Peaks. "This is it?" Harry asked.

"Everyone else we just can't be sure of," Seamus replied.

"Jimmy, what about those two that were with you in the common room?"

"Didn't you notice Demelza?" he asked.

"The pretty brunette that was with you?" Harry asked.

"Well thanks, she's my girlfriend now but yeah. And the other one was Trinity Lynn. She's one of the other chasers now. They're both with Hermione."

"Okay wow, great," Harry replied.

"And we sent the other members of the DA a message telling them to meet us there as soon as they can."

"Brilliant," Harry exclaimed. He then began to ask them all about what life was like at Hogwarts with Snape as headmaster. He found out about the Carrow's, brother and sister who were new teachers and in charge of discipline. He also found out that Snape was rarely seen, even less than Dumbledore had been.

Finally after a few minutes the four boys held up their coins, "He's ready," Seamus said.

"Okay Collin can you apparate yet?"

"Yes," he said excitedly. "I just passed my test two weeks ago."

"Great, you go alone, I'll take your brother. Seamus you take Jimmy," Harry said and everyone nodded and took the appropriate hands. "Ready?" Harry asked looking at them. "One, two, three." And then with a crack they in the same room Harry had used to teach Dumbledore's Army during his fifth year. He saw Neville standing there and a few moments later her heard a pop and looked over to see Hermione appear along with Lavender, Parvati, Demelza, Trinity and Ginny.

Harry ran over and gave Hermione a hug, not even realizing how much he had missed in even in such a short time. "I told Ginny about us?" she whispered into his ear as they embraced. He pulled back slightly and looked quizzically at her. She nodded and leaned in again and whispered, "It's okay. She's dating Neville apparently now." Harry looked over and indeed saw Ginny and Neville coming together for a very familiar embrace and he smiled. Before he could away she caught his eye and they smiled at each other. "We still have to wait for the others," Hermione said looking up at him. "Go talk to her."

He smiled at her and let go and began to walk towards Neville and Ginny. Ginny saw this and released Neville as well and began to walk towards Harry, "Hey," he said as they got near each other.

"I haven't seen you in nearly six months and all you've got is 'hey'?" she asked.

Harry feared she was angry but the smile that came across her face reassured him. "Sorry," he stated. "Hey you." Ginny giggled before they both opened their arms to embrace one another. "It's good to see you," he said as they hugged.

"It's good to see you two. When my parents told me Ron was back I was afraid something might happen to you two."

"No we've been okay, we found a safe place. How've you been?" he asked finally pulling away from her.

"All things considered I've been okay. Just trying to cause as many problems for Snape and the Carrow's as I can," she said smiling. "Yeah I heard you and Neville got the DA going again. That's really great."

"Yeah it's helped to have a purpose instead of just sitting here waiting for something to happen."

"Yeah," he said nodding his head which was followed by a few moments of silence.

Finally Ginny interrupted it though, "So you and Hermione huh?" she asked grinning.

"Yeah, umm yeah, that kinda came out of nowhere," he replied.

"No it didn't, not to anyone who was actually paying attention," she stated.

"I always thought it was going to be her and Ron and I was going to be the third wheel. That's why I was so glad when you came along, so I didn't have to feel alone."

"Oh my idiot brother wouldn't deserve her in a million years. Don't get me wrong I love him but Hermione is way outa his league. No it's you two who should be together. I think you and I just used each other to realize that real love can exist," she stated. "I really did love you Harry but I don't know that I ever really knew you." He began to protest but she put her hand up. "It wasn't your fault. I only saw the legend. There's more to you then that and while I'm sure they're pretty similar I don't know that I'll ever be able to see past your legend."

"Well at least you see the good side of me," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah I'll let Hermione deal with the other side," she said grinning.

"Neville's a good guy," he stated.

"Yeah, he really is," she said looking over at Neville who was now talking with Hermione.

"I'm glad you're happy."

"I'm glad you finally wised up," she said smiling.

"Me too," he stated. He then looked around the room and realized it had filled up considerably. "I suppose we should get started," he mentioned.

"Go lead us legend," Ginny said grinning.

"Let's not make that a thing okay."

She laughed before walking with him towards where everyone was gathering, "We're all ears."


	11. Chapter 26: A Plan Comes Together

**Chapter 26: A Plan Comes Together **

Ginny stepped away from Harry and almost at once everyone was silent. Apparently he hadn't realized that everyone had already had an eye on him so now they were completely focused in. He still wasn't comfortable in this setting but he looked at Hermione and saw her smiling and nodding and it gave him all the encouragement he needed.

"Thank you all so much for coming on such short notice," he began.

"We're used to it," Hannah Abbot stated. "Neville and Ginny have been sending us messages all year."

"You all are going to have to let me know what you've been up to later," he said smiling at Neville and Ginny. "But anyway right now there's not time for that. Riddle is on his way to Hogwarts." There was a predictable murmur through the crowd but he just continued. "He likely won't be here until tonight but the protections that safeguard the castle are down so he could show up at any moment. He's looking for something and I don't know what all he'll do to try and find it but I do know that we need to get as many people out as we can." The murmur grew louder and he found that he now nearly needed to shout to be heard over it. "Now since the protections are down those that know how can apparate but we'll need a way to get to as many people as we can."

"No," Neville shouted over everyone.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Why are we running?" Neville asked and suddenly the room was silent again.

"Because Neville he's coming, he could already be here for all I know and he'll come after anyone who stands in his way," Harry said exasperatedly. He didn't understand where this Neville was coming from. He had thought for sure he would support him.

"Then let him come. Let him fight, we'll fight right back," Neville said determinedly and Harry saw heads nodding all around the room.

"Neville you don't know what he's capable of."

"I don't know Harry? I don't know? You know what he had done to my parents. We all saw Cedric dead. I know exactly what he's capable of but I don't care, none of us do," he said emphatically as the number of nodding heads increased. "Dumbledore's Army is about doing something real remember?" he asked and finally is was Harry's turn to nod. "It's time we stood up and did something real."

Harry was unnerved. This couldn't be happening. He wanted everyone to be safe and there was no way they would be safe if they fought back. If they fought there was no way he could protect all of them. "But Neville, everyone…" Harry began but he couldn't find the words and the murmur in the room grew again.

Hermione walked calmly up to Harry and whispered to him, "Maybe they're right Harry. Maybe it is time."

"But Hermione the horcruxes…" Harry began in a whispered shout.

"Will all be here tonight," she interrupted. "Harry if we don't do something tonight Riddle could go anywhere and who knows when or even if we'll be able to find him again. What are we going to do, bring the entire wizarding world on the run with us for the rest of our lives? This has to have an ending," she said looking directly into his eyes. "Why not tonight?"

His brain was going a million miles a minute and he knew that every eye in the room was still on him, waiting for a response. He couldn't sort through everything his mind was telling him so finally he stopped, looked into his loves eyes and just listened to his heart. "We're going to need all the help we can get," he finally said to the room.

A roar erupted from crowd as everyone nodded and cried out in encouragement. Ginny stepped up to Harry, "I'll be right back." And with a crack she was gone. Harry looked around the room at the elated faces and he feared for each of them. It was just a few moments later when Ginny reappeared now holding Professor McGonagall's hand.

"Ginevra Weasley what are you…" she began to scold but then she looked around the room and shook overtook her until her eyes found Harry. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger what on earth are you doing here?"

"We came because Riddle is coming to the castle tonight."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive Professor," he replied. "And well we've decided we want to fight."

McGonagall looked around the room at all the nodding heads. "When will he be here?"

"Hopefully not for a few more hours but Snape took down the protections so he could be here at any moment."

She looked at Harry and calmly nodded before pulling out her wand and waving it around and muttering something under her breath. Then she said, "I'll be right back."

She disparated and just seconds later she returned but was now holding the hand of the entire Order of the Phoenix as well as all of the members of Dumbledore's Army who were no longer in school including Ron. In total they now numbered more than forty and Harry stood dumbfounded. He watched as people who hadn't seen each other all year reconnected and watched as Ron slunk into the background but after a few moments the room grew silent again and again all eyes fell on Harry. "Tell them what you told me," McGonagall stated.

Harry took a deep breath and said again, "Riddle is coming to Hogwarts and the time has come to fight."

"You're sure?" Lupin asked.

"Absolutely, Kreacher heard it himself."

"But Harry he has been known to lie," Kingsley replied.

"I know, but it's different now, I trust him completely. He's coming."

"When, how?" Arthur asked.

"Well as you can all probably now guess the protections are down so he'll likely get here the same way you all did. He didn't expect to be here until this evening but I can't be sure."

"Does anyone else know?" Kingsley asked.

"Other than Kreacher no one outside of this room."

"Can you track the trace?" Kingsley asked looking right at McGonagall.

"Yes I can transfer the alert here."

"Great," Kingsley replied.

"What trace?" Harry asked.

"The castle has a trace on it to monitor all magic being performed within its walls. Even with the protections down we can still trace the apparition spell so that if anyone uses it we'll be able to tell," McGonagall explained. "Unfortunately that means we're all on foot until he arrives."

"That's okay, most of us can should stay in here anyway as we're not supposed to be here."

"Would any of the other teacher's help?" Lupin asked.

"Give me a moment," she replied and with another crack she was gone.

Again conversations broke out around the room and Harry found himself holding court with Kingsley, Lupin and Arthur and he watched Hermione making her way to a corner of the room.

"We won't be able to tell where he arrives so we'll have to spread out throughout the castle as soon as we get word," Lupin stated.

"Harry what have you taught all these kids?" Kingsley asked.

"They'll be able to fight," Harry said confidently. "And they're certainly not afraid."

"Then we should break into groups," Arthur said

"I still have something I need to find or this will all be meaningless," Harry stated.

"What do you mean?" Kingsley asked.

"I don't have time to explain it right now but I have to find it or this will all just start again tomorrow no matter what we do."

"Okay, who do you need then?" Kingsley asked.

"Hermione and I have found everything else, she's the only help I need."

"And Ron?" Lupin asked.

"I'm afraid my son abandoned them," Arthur revealed. Harry looked away and Arthur continued, "He won't say what you were doing only that you two were better off without him. Ron can stay with me."

At that moment McGonagall reappeared with Professor's Flitwick, Sprout, Slughorn, Trelawney and Firenze. "Great have you told them all what's happening?" Kingsley asked. McGonagall nodded. "Okay then we need to make sure that he's not already here," Kingsley went on.

"I assure you he is not," Firenze stated.

"How can you…" Kingsley began to ask but McGonagall and Harry both cut him off by nodding at him. "Okay then we also need to get the other students to safety."

"Most of them are in their dormitories right now but if they don't show up to class some, the Carrow's mostly, will get suspicious," Professor Sprout stated.

"The Carrow's are claiming ill today," Flitwick replied. "Amycus asked me to cover his classes today."

"And Alecto spoke to me," Slughorn mentioned.

"Great, Minerva, tell all the teachers that classes for the afternoon are cancelled. If the Carrow's called in sick hopefully they and Snape are holed up somewhere waiting for him," Kingsley replied. "We need to take the students somewhere they'll be safe."

"Harry did you ever visit your parents old house?" Lupin asked.

"Yes, Hermione and I have been staying there for weeks now."

"Would you mind a few hundred house guests?"

"The orchard would be plenty big, can you get them in?" Harry asked.

"Any chance we can expand this room to hold them all?" he asked.

Neville stepped in, "I got that," he said and he closed his eyes and they all watched as the room expanded so that it was the size of the Great Hall.

"Go to your houses, bring your students here," Lupin stated. The heads of house began to disparated but Lupin grabbed Slughorn's arm. "We'll need to wait on your house I'm afraid. There's an awful lot of kids of death eaters in there and we can't have them getting any word to their parents."

"Yes of course," Horace replied.

"But once the battle begins I want you to bring them all to me as soon as you can." Slughorn nodded just as large groups of students began to appear in the room and Lupin began to whisper something to his wife who apparently was not too happy about whatever he was saying. Within a minute or two the room was packed and Lupin stood before them all.

"There is no time to explain why but we must move you all to a secure location. My wife Tonks will accompany you and explain everything once you get there but for now please just remain calm and hold hands with whoever is next to you so we don't lose anyone." He then did a fancy bit of wand waving before nodding to Tonks. "They're ready, take them to the orchard. I'll come get you when it begins." She nodded reluctantly before reaching out her hand to the nearest student.

With a crack the hall emptied of all but the DA, the order, and the professors. "Let's break into groups now," Kingsley stated. "Harry, do what you need to do. Everyone else," he said to the room at large, "we wait."


	12. Chapter 27: Where It's Hidden

**Chapter 27: Where It's Hidden**

Everyone began to separate themselves and Harry began to walk across the room in the direction Hermione had gone. He found her about half way across coming to look for you as well, "What were you doing?" he asked trying to see where she had come from.

"I was talking to Ronald," she replied.

There was a pit in his stomach now that had nothing to do with Riddle, "What about?"

"I wanted him to know that that was the last time he was going to get a chance to leave us," she stated. "I wanted him to know that I didn't hate him, that we just see things differently and that I can't live my life the way he chooses to live his. I told him that we just want different things and that while I hope when this is all over we can still be friends that it's never going to be the same because you and I are together now and I'm happier than I've ever been and no matter what he says or does nothing is going to change that," she said before finally taking a breath.

"Wow, and what did he say?" Harry asked.

"Well he never apologized for leaving. He said he had to do what he felt was right. He said he didn't believe in what we were doing anymore. He said his family deserved to know more, the order deserved to know more, that they had been in this fight longer than we had been alive and they deserved to lead it now. But he also said that he understood what we set out to do and he said that a part of him always knew that I would choose you. I don't know if he's mad or sad or maybe just understanding but he wants to be friends still, I think we owe him that much."

"I need to hear it from him before I'm ready for that," Harry stated.

"Well he's right over…" she began.

"Later, right now we have a job to do," he interrupted as he grabbed her hand and led her to the door.

As they made their way across the room Neville ran up to them, "Here," he said handing them each a gold galleon. "Take these and let us know if you need any help."

"Thanks Neville," Harry said stuffing the coin into his pocket. "And let us know when he arrives."

They nodded as each other and Harry and Hermione continued over to the door. "The cloak," he said quickly and she pulled it out. "We need to find the diadem otherwise everything else is pointless," he said throwing the cloak over them and pulling out the Marauder's Map.

"But Harry, this castle is huge, how will we ever find it?" she asked.

He took a quick peak at the map to see that no one was outside before they hastily stepped out the door. "I've been thinking about that," he began. "It's belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw right?" he whispered as they began to walk through the corridor.

"Yes," Hermione said nodding.

"But it's supposedly been lost for centuries," he continued and Hermione nodded. "So while the obvious place to look would be in Ravenclaw tower that's where anyone who's ever wanted to find it would look. I'm sure countless Ravenclaw's have looked over every inch of their tower looking for it and no one has so that means it must be somewhere else."

"Okay well that's a start, though I don't think it eliminates much," she stated.

"Okay well we also know that if Riddle is the one that hid it then it can't possibly be in Gryffindor or anywhere near the Hufflepuff common room either. And he wouldn't want to put it near the Slytherin dungeons either because he doesn't trust anyone plus he saw what happens when he leaves a horcrux in someone else's hands with Lucius and the diary. So that means it's got to be in one of the common areas of the castle, somewhere anyone has access to."

"Okay so that narrows it down to every classroom, every corridor and bathroom, the Great Hall, the kitchens, not to mention everywhere out on the grounds," she groaned.

"Well I think it's probably fair to eliminate the bathrooms and probably the classrooms as well, too much traffic through them but I was thinking, what about the chamber off of the Great Hall where they took the champions that first night," he suggested. "I mean think about it, it's a room full of pomp and circumstance so it's the kind of place like Gringotts that Riddle would just love to exploit plus no one ever goes in there so it would be relatively safe."

"I suppose that makes sense," she replied so Harry mapped out a path on the map to make sure they didn't run into anyone and they managed to get down to the great hall without being spotted. Just before they went into the chamber Hermione quietly cast one of her trusty detection spells so they would have warning if someone was coming. They went in and quietly closed the door and Hermione magically locked it and the pulled off the cloak. "Okay, let's see what we can find."

They went to work turning over every square in of the chamber. They pulled paintings off the walls, they poked at the floors and walls looking for loose stone. Harry even climbed up the fireplace a ways in hopes that maybe Riddle had hid it up there. But after more than an hour of looking they hadn't found a thing, "Oh Harry I don't know, maybe we should look elsewhere," Hermione said as they both looked frustrated.

"But where else could it…" Harry began to say but he was cut off as they both felt heat from their pockets. They both pulled out their galleons and Harry ready to himself, _Riddle's here, spreading out around the castle._

"He'll be looking for it to now," Hermione stated.

Suddenly it dawned on Harry, "Of course he will Hermione that's it," he exclaimed.

"I have to go inside his mind. Now that he's here he'll be heading to it but maybe we can beat him to it." She looked at him with weak and scared eyes but he knew she had no response so Harry closed his eyes and focused his mind. Within moments he saw into the Headmaster's office. Snape was there along with Bellatrix. "Well it appears you are not the only one who has failed me," Riddle hisses looking right into Bellatrix' eyes as she cowered.

"My Lord," Snap said. "What is it you need?"

And then suddenly in Harry's mind flashed a room he knew. There was piles and piles of debris and off to one side and right in front of him was the cupboard he had hid Snape's potion book in the year before and there sitting right on top of it, right where he himself had left it was the bust with the wig and the diadem.

Harry shook his head and when he looked up he was back in the chamber with Hermione, "It's in the Room of Requirement," he yelled.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"It's in a place where you hide stuff, where I hid my, or Snape's potions book last year. I touched it, I moved it. I know exactly where it is," he exclaimed. "We have to get back there."

"Send out a message. Tell the DA to meet us in the Great Hall, bring everyone." Harry pulled out the map and Hermione grabbed her coin. "It's clear Hermione do it now, do it now," he shouted.

She sent the message and by the time they had unlocked the door and run out everyone was in the Great Hall waiting for them. "What is it Harry?" Neville asked.

"He's going to the Room of Requirement. I have to get in there first. We need to slow him down," Harry exclaimed.

"Leave that to us," Fred and George said in unison.

Lupin approached Harry looking at the map still in his hand. "Is anyone else with him?" Lupin asked.

Harry opened up the map and found the Headmaster's office and he watched as five dots began to move away from it. "Snape, Bellatrix and the Carrow's," he answered. "Everyone here that he knows in on his side."

Lupin looked out at the crowd. "The rest of us need to form a perimeter around the corridor," he announced. "Riddle's brought some friends."

"Okay let's go," Harry called and with that everyone disparated and moments later they were all in the seventh floor corridor. Harry closed his eyes and thought hard, _I need to go to the place where things are hidden, I need to go to the place where things are hidden, I need to go to the place where things are hidden. _When he opened his eyes the door stood before him. He grabbed Hermione's hand and opened it and ran inside before shutting the door and all the commotion with it outside. They were in the same cathedral like room Harry had found the year before and the only sound they heard was of a bird chirping somewhere in the rafters. "Come on," he said as he led them running up one of the lines of debris. In his haste he made a few wrong turns but in a few moments they were standing before the cabinet. He felt it, he knew it was there and when he reached out it burned his hand a little. "The sword Hermione," he called.

She pulled out Gryffindor's sword and Harry placed the diadem on a small wooden bench beside them. He then looked back at Hermione, "Together?" he asked.

"Together," she said nodding.

So together they raised the sword, "One," Harry said taking a deep breath.

"Two," Hermione continued, steadying her hand.

"Three," Harry yelled and together they brought the sword crashing down on the diadem. A black smoke appeared but was quickly snuffed out as they held the sword strong. Two had done what one alone could not, snuff out any hope of retribution. And Harry knew in that instant why. He smiled and pulled Hermione into a hug. "Just the two living left," he said into her hair.

"The snake will be with him," she replied.

"Then I guess we had better go find him," he said as he held her tight for a few more seconds. "Come on, let's go," he finally said as he released her. They walked back to the door and nodded at each other. "I love you," he said softly to her.

"I love you too," she replied and they opened the door. Immediately they were overcome by the commotion of spells hitting walls, people shouting and screaming and as they took a single step out the door Harry looked around Hermione and saw a green light heading directly towards her chest.

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is sort of short. It's kinda hard to figure out where to break things up during this part but hopefully I'll have another chapter up either later today or tomorrow before I take my weekend break. Hope you're still enjoying it and thanks as always for reading.**


	13. Chapter 28: The Elder Wand

**Chapter 28: The Elder Wand**

It was instinct that had Harry grabbing her around the waist and pulling her to the floor as he whipped around and shouted, "Stupefy," and waved his wand back in the direction the light had come from.

He didn't take the time to see if it hits its mark or even who had cast the spell he just pulled Hermione over behind a bust that flanked the wall. There he was able to survey what was going on around him. Everywhere he looked there were people dueling, Lupin and Arthur where locked in a battle with the Carrows, Molly and McGonagall were going after Bellatrix.

Apparently Riddle had been able to get word of the battle out because he saw Dolohov and Rowle fighting with members of the DA. What he didn't see was Riddle or Snape, "They're not here," he said to Hermione.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here."

So he grabbed her hand and with a crack they were gone again. "What are we doing here?" Hermione asked as they opened their eyes to find they were in the stands on the Quidditch pitch.

"I needed somewhere to think and I figured this would give a good vantage point," he said as he turned to look back over the castle.

"Oh, brilliant," Hermione replied.

"Always the tone of surprise," Harry said grinning. "Keep a look out," he instructed and again he closed his mind as he sought out Riddle.

He was back in the Headmaster's office and he was staring at Snape with Nagini beside him. "Did you do it?" he hissed. "Did you get his wand?"

"Yes but what on earth do you need Dumbledore's wand for?" Snape asked pulling the wad out and handing it over to Riddle.

"It is not just Dumbledore's wand," Riddle said examining it closely. "It is the wand of destiny, the death stick, the elder wand, the most powerful wand in the world," he said before shooting a bold from it and obliterating one of the brass instruments on the desk.

"But how…" Snape began.

"Grindelwald," Riddle hissed. "He stole it from Gregorovitch who obtained it to gain notoriety in his trade. When Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald the wands powers became his own. The old fool never even knew what he had," he scoffed. "And to think, they called him the greatest wizard in the world. But he never knew, he never knew how powerful he could be, how he held the death stick in his hand. And now its power is mine. Now there is nothing the Potter can do to stop me." Harry watched as Riddle disparated again and the next thing he knew was back in the corridor outside the Room of Requirement but that battle that had been raging there just a few minutes before seemed to have moved on. He heard shouting but it was in the distance and he watched as Riddle began to walk back and forth in front of where a door would be soon enough.

Harry shook his head clear again and looked at Hermione, "Riddle has the elder wand." She looked horrified. "Dumbledore had it, he had Snape take it from his tomb."

"Wait Dumbledore had it?" she asked. Harry quickly explained what he had just seen. "But Harry, if that's true, Dumbledore wasn't the last master of the elder wand."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You said before Snape killed him last year that Draco disarmed him," she stated.

"Yeah but Snape…"

"It doesn't matter what Snape did or didn't do. Draco is the one who disarmed him and whether he would have killed him or not it doesn't matter, Draco is the one who controls the elder wand. I've read all about wand lore and a wands power can transfer its loyalty one of two ways, when it is forcibly removed from the owner or when its power is freely given from one wizard to the other."

"But that means…" Harry began.

"Look at the map Harry, is Draco still here?"

Harry pulled it out and quickly scanned it, "There," he said pointing. "He's in the Slytherin common room, and he's alone. Most of the other Slytherin's are in the Great Hall."

"They must be taking them to Godric's Hallow and I'll bet you anything Draco is waiting for his Mom and Dad, they're surely here," Hermione exclaimed. "Do you still remember what their common room looks like?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Be ready for anything," she said as they folded up the map and Harry raised his wand.

Another crack and they reappeared in the dark, damp Slytherin common room. They looked left and saw Draco looking at them, but he didn't seem all that surprised. "I figured you two must be here," he snarled as he raised his wand.

"How'd you know?" Harry asked, his and Hermione's wands raised as well.

"I felt my mark burn and I knew you must be making a go of it."

"Why didn't you go?"

"What's it to you Potter?"

"Well it just seems to me you've made some choices tonight," Harry explained. "You could have gone to meet him or you could have left with the rest of your Slytherin buddies."

"He's already here, why would I need to go anywhere?" Draco asked.

"All the other Death Eaters are up there fighting. I figure your parents are probably up there too but yet you're down here, what's with that?"

"Come off it Potter," Draco cried tensing his hand that held his wand.

"Draco we're not here to hurt you," Hermione explained. "We just wanna talk."

"Yeah that's rich," he scowled. "I still have a scar from the last time you wanted to talk to me Potter," he said rubbing his chest.

"Draco, we mean it. Look I'll put my wand down, Hermione will too," he said looking at her. Hermione looked at him as though he was crazy. "It's okay," he said to her. "He's not gonna hurt us."

"Shows what you know Potter," Draco called as Hermione did indeed lower her wand. "Need I remind you it was my plan that brought down Dumbledore?"

"It was your plan," Harry admitted. "But not your wand." Now it was Draco's turn to look at him like his was crazy.

"I was on that tower Draco. You didn't see me but I was there. You wouldn't kill him, you're not evil Draco. Snape had to do what you couldn't bring yourself to because it's just not in you. You may want to be evil Draco, you may even think you are, but I saw it that night, and I see it now, you're not evil Draco."

"What would you know Potter? You can only dream of the evil I've done," Draco said but even now his voice was breaking slightly.

"No you haven't Draco," Harry said calmly. "Sure we don't like each other, never have, never will, but you've never done anything purely evil in your life." Malfoy was breathing heavy now so Harry continued. "I need your wand Draco. I need you to give it to me freely. I don't want to have to take it from you. You're better than that. You're better than him."

"What do you want with my wand," he asked, his scowl shrinking by the word.

"It's the only way to bring down Voldemort," Harry continued. "With your wand we can end this. We can take away that evil that hangs over this world and you can go on and live your life however you want to live it. You and I both know that with him in this world you're no safer than the rest of us. You failed him, you didn't kill Dumbledore because you're not the evil that he is. It's admirable Draco and it's what makes you more than him but it's also what makes him want to destroy you," Harry said looking Draco right in the eyes. "But with your help we can do something about that. So please, help me finish him."

There was a defining silence in the room. Malfoy and Harry stared at each other. Hermione looked back and forth between them her fingers twitching on her own wand. No one said a word for more than a minute before Malfoy finally spoke. "You better finish this Potter," he snarled. He then flipped his want up and caught it so that the handle end was now facing Harry. Harry took a step forward and held out his hand to grab the wand but Draco pulled it back. "Tell him this is from me," he said before handing the wand to Harry.

"Now just say, I give this wand and all its power to you," Hermione instructed.

"I give this wand and all its power to you," Draco repeated before Harry pulled it away.

"Thanks," he said softly to Draco.

"Go," Draco demanded. And with that he grabbed Hermione's hand and they disaparated.

They landed back in the stands of the Quidditch pitch stands and as soon as they did they felt more heat from their pockets. Hermione pulled out her galleon and read, "Ron's killed the snake."

**A/N: Okay so another short chapter sorry. Maybe later I'll go back and combine the last two but again hopefully this will be okay for you. I'll keep posting as quickly as I can but don't expect any more until next week. Sorry, real life...**


	14. Chapter 29: It Will End Here

**A/N: Still loving all the positive reviews. Thanks so much for sticking with this story. I've had a few people complain about my treating of Draco and Ron and to those I say thanks for reading as well. Sorry but unlike a lot of people who would have preferred Harry and Hermione to end up together I don't hate Ron at all. I just think Harry and Hermione make more sense. As far as Draco goes yes I understand he did some pretty horrendous things but I always felt that when push came to shove he wasn't truly evil so that's how i chose to portray him. Keep the comments coming and as always thanks for reading.**

**Oh PS, there's a few direct quotes from Deathly Hallows in this chapter. As always I give all the credit to J.K. Rowling and thank her for sharing.**

**Chapter 29: It Will End Here**

Harry and Hermione stood stunned, staring at each other for a few moments. "He did it," Hermione finally squealed.

"He did," Harry reiterated.

"That means…" Hermione began.

"I have to kill him," Harry stated plainly.

"We'll do it together."

"It has to be Hermione, you know the prophecy as well as I do… it has to be me."

"You're not doing this alone," she said looking him in the eyes.

"I know," he said with a soft smile before wrapping his arms around her.

"So what do we do?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, maybe…" Harry began but he was cut off.

"The battle must cease," they suddenly heard as the hiss of Riddle's voice surrounded them and they looked around for the source but saw nothing. "There need not be another drop of blood spilled. I do not wish to harm your forces. I do wish to end any other lives. I command my forces to fall back. You, brave defenders of Hogwarts, gather your dead and wounded," Harry and Hermione looked at each other, mortified. "You need not feel the fear to fight for one hour. Harry Potter I now speak directly to you. As always you have allowed others to fight your battles for you. You have allowed those better witches and wizards to fight the fight that was meant for you and died the deaths that should have been yours. But now I ask you to do the right thing. If you seek me you shall find me in the forest and this all can be over. You have the ability to end this now. Do what must be done Harry Potter. End this now and die a hero or stall, drag this out, and die a coward. How will you be remember oh Chosen One? Who shall you be? I wait for you now, I am here."

The silence that followed the words seemed to take hold of all the grounds. Harry's feet were moving before he even knew where he was going. "What are you doing Harry?" Hermione screamed as she chased him down the stairs of the stands.

He didn't know how to answer. He wasn't sure he knew the answer so he just kept walking until the words came out, "It has to end," he said unwaveringly.

"It will," she cried. "We can end this together."

"Or I can end it alone and no one else will need to die," he said as he continued to trudge out of the stadium.

"Harry no," she cried. "You don't have to do it. It doesn't have to be this way," she said. Then she realized where they were walking towards. "Where are you going? The forest is the other way."

"I have one final stop to make," he said as he walked towards the school.

"Where?" she asked continuing to chase after him.

"I need to talk to Dumbledore."

"But Dumbledore is…" she began but then it dawned on her. "Do you think Snape will have even left it up?"

"I don't think he could take it down even if he wanted to. The office is where the Headmaster lives but it belongs to Hogwarts," he replied.

Hermione remained quiet now as they walked through the school. They didn't run into anyone as they walked but signs of the battle were everywhere. Bits of ruble lined the corridors. Shards of suits of armor were scattered throughout. It didn't appear that anywhere in the castle had been spared. When they reached the seventh floor they walked down the corridor leading to the Headmaster's office and saw that gargoyle that usually controlled the entrance had been left in crumbles and the stairway lay unguarded. They walked up the stairs and as Harry began to pull open the door they heard a rush of conversation. Hermione moved the close the door but Harry kept pulling. When it was completely open all the commotion in the room ceased and every eye of every portrait in the room gazed down upon them but Harry only had eyes for the one in the middle.

The half-moon spectacles peered at perhaps his greatest pupil who was the first to speak. "You heard Riddle?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it appears that Tom has leaned a few more tricks since he left school," Dumbledore replied.

"Is he lying again or have we really lost people?" he asked.

"Unfortunately this time Tom speaks the truth," he replied somberly. "Both from our side as well as theirs."

"Who?"

"From my understanding the school has lost another professor as Professor Flitwick took a killing curse from Dolohov," Harry heard Hermione begin to sob and felt a tear trickle down his own cheek but his face held steadfast. "It also appears that Greyback has claimed two more victims in Miss Brown as well as Mr. Finnigan. And lastly it appears that Bellatrix has taken out the last remaining Marauder when he stepped in front of a curse meant for his wife."

"Is that all?" Harry asked, doing everything he could to steady his nerve.

"There are others but from my knowledge the rest of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of Phoenix remain, for the most part, unharmed."

"I have face him don't I?"

"Harry you should know by now that you do not have to do anything. For it our present choices that make us who we are, not our past decisions."

"Those people died because I wasn't fast enough," Harry said, his head dropping in shame.

"Those people died because they chose their side Harry and unfortunately it is a choice that came with risks, risks that you know well."

"Like the risk you took to believe Snape?" he asked. He hadn't meant to say it but somewhere in the sadness a sense of anger had come out.

"My trust for Severus is as absolute as it is for you," Dumbledore replied.

"He killed you," Harry said now looking up at the portrait in disgust. "He swatted you away like you were nothing."

"You should know better than most by now that things are not always what they seem, that people are not always who they appear to be."

"How can he be anything but murderer?" Harry asked.

"We all must die my boy and some will have their time come sooner than we wish mine came when it needed to."

"Is that your way of saying I should let Riddle kill me?" The sobbing coming from Hermione grew louder with each passing breath.

"Harry why do you ask questions you already know the answers to?"

"If I die it's done. With me dead Riddle won't have anything else to fight for. His guard will be down and the DA and the Order can finish him off."

"Or you could kill him yourself," Hermione cried, finally finding her voice.

"As always Miss Granger is right," Dumbledore said calmly.

Harry took a deep breath and turned to Hermione, "You need to go find everyone else. You need to get them ready. You know what it will take to take out Riddle. I need you to help organize it," he stated.

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going to make him show his hand. We need to know who else is left with him. I'll get all of the information we need then I'll signal for you."

"No, you can't go alone. I'll go with you and then we'll apparate back together," she pleaded.

"No we can't. If you're with me the Death Eaters will kill you on sight. But Riddle wants me for himself. Nobody else will try anything so I can get much closer alone. Keep your coin close. I'll signal you the second I'm ready." She looked up at him with a terrible fear in her eyes. "Go Hermione," he insisted. "We'll be back together before you know it."

She threw his arms around him, "Don't be hero," she cried.

"Hey," he said pulling away and forcing a smile at her. "Have I ever let you down?"

"Don't start now," she stated.

"I won't," he said as he placed a soft kiss on her lips. She wiped a tear away before she was gone with a pop.

Harry pulled his coin out of his pocket and looked down at it. It still read that Ron had killed Nagini. He walked to the desk and placed it in the middle and looked back up at Dumbledore. "Can you make sure she knows I'm sorry I lied?" he asked, another tear streaking down his cheek.

"In time she will understand," Dumbledore stated.

"If I die he dies, neither can live, neither can survive."

"A choice that is certainly not easy but ultimately will hopefully prove to be right," Dumbledore said nodding.

Harry nodded back, gripped his wand and with pop he was gone. When he opened his eyes he was next to Hagrid's hut, or at least what was left of it. He glanced back up to the lights in the castle before taking another breath and walking towards the forest.

With each step his feet threatened to betray him and run back to temporary safety but he trudged on. He reached into his pocket to find his pocket watch to make sure he still had time, which he did but when he went to place it back in the other pocket his fingers felt another bit of metal. He grabbed it and pulled the golden snitch out of his pocket. The words remained etched on the side, 'I open at the close.' Harry closed his eyes, held the snitch to his lips and whispered, "I am about to die."

When he opened his eyes he the first sense of calm he had felt since he had arrived at Hogwarts rushed over him. Sirius, Lupin, and his parents stood smiling in front of him, "Hello dear," his mother said softly.

"Hi," he said smiling at both of his parents. Then his eyes met with Sirius' and Lupin's, "I'm sorry," he said, tears filling his eyes again. "I never meant for either of you to die."

"We only died so that others may live," Lupin replied.

"It wasn't your fault Harry. You've been amazing," Sirius mentioned.

"Death was simply our last great adventure," his father said smiling.

"Yeah and what at hell of an adventure it was eh James," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked softly.

"Not when you do to save those you love," his mother replied.

"Best feeling in the world," Lupin said.

"Will you stay with me?" Harry asked.

"We're always with you," his father replied.

Harry nodded and began to walk again and his companions fell in line silently behind him. He saw a light a little ways off and traipsed through the trees until reached a clearing where a fire burned and several black cloaked men and women stood examining their wounds. A few steps away a streaky black haired man and black curly haired woman sat at the feet of a bald, snake face man. Harry cleared his throat, "Hello Tom."


	15. Chapter 30: The Master of Death

**Chapter 30: The Master of Death**

Harry was used to be stared at. He was being gawked at, at being looked at like he was something he wasn't. When you're 'The Chosen One' being the center of attention was something you grew used to. What he wasn't used to however it feeling as though someone was looking through you, like you were nothing. But there he was, nearly two dozen pairs of eyes gazing down on him with contempt.

"Harry Potter," Riddle said as one of the last to turn his head.

"Who is this Tom he speaks to?" one of the masked Death Eaters asked.

"Silence," Riddle commanded with a flick of his wand that seemed to shut out all noise but his own voice. "I must say, I did not expect to see you," he said twirling Dumbledore's wand in his fingers.

Harry's own hand reached into his pocket to hold Draco's wand but he left it there. "Well I'm here, you said it, no one else needs to die tonight. Kill me Tom," Harry said and he felt four invisible hands come to rest on his shoulders.

"With pleasure, Avada Kedavra," he screamed Harry watched as the green light shot from the wand into Harry's Heart. He didn't feel a thing and he thought that maybe that was what death was supposed to feel like but as he looked into Riddle's eyes he knew he wasn't dead. Instinct told him to crumple to the ground and he forced himself to fall, unhurt, to the earth. He closed his eyes and but instead of darkness he saw only light and he saw Sirius, Lupin, and his mother and father staring back at him.

"I thought that Dumbledore had the elder wand, isn't that the one that Voldemort just used?" Lupin asked.

"You mean that stupid wand of destiny or whatever you were always blabbing on about James?" Sirius asked.

"Well it certainly looked like the one I had seen in my research," James replied. "Was that really Dumbledore's wand son?" he asked.

Harry was afraid to speak for fear of being found out but taking a quick look around with his eyes he realized this wasn't the forest floor. "Yes, that was Dumbledore's wand," Harry replied and at least according to him and Snape it's the elder wand but according to Hermione he's not the master of it."

"Who is?" his father asked.

"Me."

"You?" Lilly asked softly.

"Yes, Draco disarmed Dumbledore before he died," Harry began.

"Yes that's right," Lupin said nodding. "He was unarmed when Severus found him."

"Yes and earlier tonight Draco gave me his wand and passed over control of it freely to me."

"So you are the true master of the elder wand? Lilly asked.

"That's what Hermione told me and she's never been wrong before."

"No I don't suspect she has," Lupin said smiling.

"Wait so you mean that stupid story is real?" Sirius asked.

"The cloak," James stated ignoring his friend. "Dumbledore borrowed it from me before he found us."

"Dumbledore gave it to me for Christmas my first year," Harry said smiling.

"And we wouldn't be here if you didn't have the stone," James continued and Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the snitch which had opened to reveal a stone inside. James shook his head. "The stone, the cloak and the wand. The three brother's wishes all come together at last. You son, are the master of death," James said looking at his son in awe.

"What does that even mean?" Harry asked and everyone looked at James.

"I never got that far in my research," he admitted. "But you just got hit with the killing curse and you certainly are not dead."

"He can't hurt me?" Harry asked uneasily.

"As the master of death it doesn't appear so though I can't be certain. I'm not really sure what it means at all but I do know that you just gained a very valuable weapon," James replied.

"But what about the other's?" Harry asked. "If I just lie here wont' he go after them?"

"Of course he will," Sirius said with a scoff. "It's not in his nature to stay true to his word."

"I believe you have the power to end this," James said looking directly at Harry. "I believe the prophecy is correct and I believe you can be the one to survive."

"How?" he pleaded.

"I wish I knew," he said helplessly.

"You can do this son," he mother said sweetly as the other nodded somewhat in awe.

"So I should just open my eyes and go back?" he asked.

"You're the chosen one," Sirius said with a smirk. "Go show them what that really means."

Sirius's smirk, Lupin's trust, his mother's love, and his father's confidence was all Harry needed. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he was back in the forest and there was commotion all around him.

"Potty's dead," yelled one voice.

"Looks like he chose death," screamed another.

"Doesn't look so tough now," yelled one more.

"You are now and forever will be the real chosen one," Bellatrix cried.

Harry peered through the smallest slits he could make his eyes be but nobody was looking too closely at him. The Death Eaters had all converged on Riddle and picked him up on their shoulders and were dancing around. Then Harry saw something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, Riddle smiled.

"Come, let us go show all his friends what price you pay for standing up to me," he said laughing. "Let's go show them who they really are without their precious chosen one. Severus," he hissed. "Bring the boy."

What was he going to do? As soon as Snape got a good look at him he was going to know that he wasn't dead. What would he do then? He couldn't take down Riddle here, not with all his followers carrying him around like some fool hardy hero. He was searching everywhere in his mind for something to do when time ran out and Snape picked him up onto his shoulder.

"You live?" Harry had expected him to scream it, toss him down and call for Riddle but instead it was only a whisper. Still he didn't answer. "I feel the air go into your lungs Potter," Snape whispered as the rest of the Death Eater's continued to scream and yell as they began to make their way towards the school with Riddle still on their shoulders. "Well I hope you've been practicing you legilimency," Snape continued in a whisper. "Say it, say the spell."

Harry had no idea what was going on but he figured he had nothing to lose at this point, "Legilimens," he whispered.

Suddenly he flashed into the Headmaster's Office. Dumbledore was there, his hand blacker than Harry ever remembered seeing it. "How long do I have left?" Dumbledore asked Snape.

"A year at most," Snape replied.

"Good, then our plan now has the same time table as Mr. Malfoys."

"The Dark Lord has instructed him to kill you within the year yes," Snape said nodding. "But what is our plan?"

"You must be the one to kill me." Snape looked at Dumbledore with a bemused look. "I will die anyway Severus," he continued. "This will ensure you become Riddle's most trusted confidant and will keep young Draco safe. If you kill me then I am sure that Riddle will listen to you for everything. You must suggest to him that you become the new Headmaster. This will ensure the continued safety of the students. I will give Mr. Potter all the tools he needs to bring about the end of Riddle but you must stay in Riddle's good graces until he is vanquished. Until that happens, no matter what, you must play your role Severus."

"You don't care who dies any more, even your precious Potter, just as long as Riddle dies in the process," Snape sneered.

"Don't tell me you've come to care for the boy," Dumbledore questioned.

But then just as suddenly as he had entered he was thrown back out of Snape's mind and he was back bouncing along on Snape's shoulder as they marched through the forest behind the partying Death Eaters.

He wasn't really sure what he had just seen and he definitely was not sure yet if he could fully trust the man who was carrying him but one thing was for sure. For now at least, he had the most unexpected ally he could ever imagine.

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. I needed to split the end up somehow or the chapter would have gone on forever. I should have the next chapter posted soon though.**


	16. Chapter 31: The Greatest Power

**Chapter 31: The Greatest Power**

They made their way through the forest and through squinted eyes Harry watched as they walked across the grounds. Just before they reached the castle he heard Riddle hiss, "Silence, let us make a dignified entrance." The cheering ceased but they continued to carry Tom with Harry and Snape a few steps behind.

They walked into the still empty castle and Harry began to wonder if perhaps everyone had fled when they did not receive a message from him. But as they approached the doors to the Great Hall he began to hear a murmur. The doors opened and light flooded into Harry's still squinting eyes as Snape dropped him lower in his arms and stayed back. There was a squeal from someone as they realized who had just walked into the room before all conversation stopped. For several long moments no one spoke and it was as if Riddle was letting his presence sink in with everyone.

Finally though, Riddle let his evil out, "Good evening defenders or Hogwarts and welcome to a new era. I am sorry that there will be several not joining us in this exciting new time but unfortunately your chosen one continued to hide behind the wands of greater witches and wizards." There wasn't a breath of air to be heard in the room. Harry and Snape where still in the shadows and he knew that he had not been seen yet. All eyes were still on Riddle. "Unfortunately for you all your beloved hero tried to run. As usual he tried to save himself but alas he was no match for the power of Lord Voldemort." Snape walked into the light and Harry felt himself being lifted into the air by his ankle.

The screams he heard from the crowd nearly sent him over the edge. He heard them all, cries of horror but there was one that stood out above the rest, "No Harry no, no, no, it can't be," Hermione cried. "He promised," she screamed through the rush of tears. "He promised."

It was all Harry could do to remain still but the moment wasn't right. He need Riddle to fully let his guard down. "Silencio," Riddle said and suddenly the room was thrust into silence. "You see what happens when you put your faith in those that have done nothing to deserve it. This is how you end up. This is how you will all end up unless you choose the only side left, the side of the new world order with Lord Voldemort as the only center in your pathetic little lives."

"NO!," came a scream so loud Harry would have thought it came from hundreds but it was one voice and one person who stepped forward. "No," Hermione repeated. "You may have killed Harry," she continued trying to sound strong though, knowing her as he did, he could hear the sadness in her voice. "But you didn't kill what he stood for. You didn't kill why we believed in him and you certainly didn't kill us!"

"YEAH!" came a roar from the crowd.

"Silencio," Riddle screamed louder this time as the commotion ceased again. "Silly girl. You dare to dream that Harry Potter stood for anything but failure and cowardness." Through the slight slits in his eyes Harry saw the Death Eaters laughing amongst themselves. They had set Riddle down and were now casually standing near their master, not a wand raised among them. "This is all that he was and it how he should properly be remembered," Riddle continued. "As if he could ever be anything more." And now Harry saw that Riddle too was laughing with his followers, Dumbledore's wand held haphazardly in his hand and Harry knew his time was near. "Very well then, if that is how you choose to see it..."

'Liberacorpus,' Harry thought to himself with all his might and as he fell he grabbed Draco's wand from his pocket and yelled "Protego." As he landed he quickly scrambled to his feet and swiftly expanded the spell to encompass all of the defenders of Hogwarts behind him and turned towards Riddle who was just preparing the lazily throw a spell and his Death Eaters who were too stunned to move. "Stay back everyone," Harry commanded. "This is between Tom and I. This ends here Tom," he said staring straight at Riddle.

"You are like a common cat," Riddle hissed. "Tell me how many lives have you used up by now?"

"I have all the life I need," Harry replied his wand pointed directly at Riddle who now had brought his own up to meet with Harry's. "I have all the life I need," he repeated. "And now your lives are about to run out." For the first time he saw a sense of fear behind Riddles eyes so he continued. "Must have been a tough trip these last few days, realizing one by one that your tethers to life have gone. I must say it would have made me pretty mad, mad enough to take action. But not you huh Tom."

"You speak to me like a common man," Riddle hissed in reply. "You shall pay me the respect my actions deserve. You're people call me He Who Must Not Be Named, but you are free to call me Lord Volde…"

"Tim Riddle," Harry interrupted as Riddle sneered. "I've always been partial to the Riddle name myself. Tell me, do your followers over there know that you're nothing but a filthy half-blood?" he asked and the Death Eaters behind Riddle began to mutter to each other quietly.

"You know nothing," Riddle interjected.

"I know enough," Harry said and he felt the presence of people walking slowly behind him. "I know that you and I have a lot in common; orphans from early on, our first real home this wonderful castle which you have done the great disservice of damaging tonight, we even speak to snakes, though I am sorry to hear that you lost your favorite conversationalist tonight," Harry teased. "But there's also a few differences that I think might be more important tonight. You see I know a few things you don't."

"I am the greatest wizard or all time. I have done more for this world than any who have come before me and none will come after me. You are nothing but a common school boy."

"Well consider mine as a vote for Dumbledore as the greatest wizard ever but that is neither here nor there at the moment," Harry said and he saw Riddle seethe. "I'm quite sure you know more magic than me but I mean really, everything I need to know I learned in first year, isn't that what they say?" There was the hint of a chuckle behind him and he knew his friends were close. "And what I learned way back then was that it pays to have friends. You see friends will help you get past a troll. Friends will get you unstuck from a vine and yes some friends will even counter curse your pathetic attempt at making me fall off a broom."

At that moment Harry's eyes found Snape's and they nodded at each other and Snape began to walk across the room. Riddle's eyes left Harry to watch Snape walk over to join the crowd behind Harry and while there was brief mumbled discussion behind him, his friends allowed Snape to fall in line with them. "You don't know what friendship is do you Riddle? You know so little that even the man you thought was your biggest ally, your most trusted servant, was never yours at all."

"Well my biggest ally killed your greatest wizard at least," Riddle hissed. "And in doing so gave me possession of this," he said holding Dumbledore's wand up high.

"It's a nice wand," Harry stated. "Elder isn't it, nice and supple? Too bad it's not the wand you though it was." Riddle was now eyeing him with a sense of confusion and he knew he had him right where he wanted him. "You see Snape didn't do anything Dumbledore didn't tell him to. Unfortunately part of your plan did work, you just never realized it. Malfoy did disarm the greatest wizard of them all. He never touched it but that wand would only ally with him. That it until he offered this one too me earlier tonight," Harry said holding Draco's wand up for all to see.

"Draco get over here at once," Lucius suddenly demanded and Harry turned around to see Draco walking up behind his friends.

"Shove off father," Draco sneered as he moved to stand next to Snape and held Harry's wand up.

"You see Riddle, no one care about you. No one wants anything to do with you. No one loves you," Harry stated.

"Love is nothing but a fools game."

"Well you better hope so because right now it looks like love has got you outnumbered about two to one and you already lost when you had me on my own." Now the fear came over the faces of the Death Eaters as they appeared to be doing the math for the first time.

"Numbers mean nothing with me Potter," Riddle hissed. "I have been beating the odds my entire life."

"You and me both Tom. How many times have you tried to kill me now? By my count it's seven, pretty special number isn't it? Seven time's you've tried to kill me and seven times you've failed, once for each part of your soul that is now left in ruin. And I can see it now, it's all in your head, maybe the eighth time will do it unless of course that wand in your hand realized that it's true master is the one you seek."

Harry didn't blink, Tom breathed deeply, neither moved. The anger in Tom was right at the surface and Harry knew it. So he smiled at him and said slyly, "I will miss the fight Tom."

At that moment two things happened almost simultaneously. From behind Harry came a roar of "STUPIFY," and jets of red light flew across the room.

At the same time Tom screamed, "Avada Kedavra." But the green light never made it past the tip of his wand. Instead it shot back and flew into Tom's chest and the wand exploded into splinters as the Death Eaters flew back and collapsed on top of one another and Tom Riddle fell into a useless clump on the castle floor victim of his last defiance of love.

There was a few moments of stunned silence before a roar came over the room like none had ever heard before. Wands flew into the air and Harry felt a familiar pair of arms fling around him. He turned to return the embrace with Hermione who promptly stepped back and slugged Harry right across the jaw. "Y Gaw Ermione, ha has hat or?" Harry asked rubbing his clearly broken jaw.

"Brakium emendo," she said pointing her wand at his jaw and Harry suddenly felt all the bones go back into place. "That was for dying," Hermione replied. "And lying to me about it." She then reached her arms back up around Harry and pulled him in for a spin tingling kiss. "And that was for living," she said when she pulled away leaving Harry a bit out of breath.

"Well I'm sure glad you're better at fixing broken bones then Lockheart," Harry said with a smirk. "And… I'm sorry."

"You know one day we're going to have to figure out a way for you to get over this hero complex you have," she said smiling at him.

"Well it looks like I've got some time now," he said with a smirk.

"Or later," she replied.

"Or forever," Harry said pulling her in for a kiss again before they were both scooped up by the celebrating crowd. They were carried out onto the grounds where Fred and George had already shot off a huge supply of Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs the last of which said it all, a simple pink heart, love.

**A/N: Thanks as always for reading. There will be an epilogue to this story because let's be honest. That's the only part of DH most of us really weren't too keen on. I make no promises that mine will be much better but I'll do my best. It should be up later tonight or early tomorrow. **


	17. Epilogue: Nineteen Years Later

**If you are following this story and got that it had an upstate there's a second authors note at the end that's all.**

**Epilogue: Nineteen Years Later**

"It isn't fair," Lilly squealed. "How come I don't get to go?"

"Your time will come soon enough dear," Hermione said patting her daughter on the head. "Besides you've gone to see Daddy at work loads of times."

"Yeah but we only ever go to his office and his classroom. I never get to see any of the good stuff that James is always talking about. He told me the other day that there's a room where he can get all the food he wants."

"Your brother has clearly been spending too much time with your Uncle Ron," Hermione replied. "When I was in school that room was always full of books. Maybe if it did that for your brother he wouldn't need to copy off of Roses homework so much."

"He only spends so much time over there because Aunt Katie is a better cook than you he says."

"Yes well Uncle Ron and Aunt Katie have a bit more time for that during their off-season from Quidditch than I do," Hermione replied. "The Ministry doesn't exactly have an off-season."

At that moment Harry walked up with Albus, "Is she whining about not going again?" he asked.

"She's does the same thing every year," Albus whined.

"I seem to remember you saying the same thing just last year," Hermione said smiling at her middle son.

"Tell you what Sweety you can come have lunch with me next week. We'll eat in the Great Hall an everything."

"Can't we go somewhere cool?" Lilly asked.

"Well maybe Headmaster Snape would be okay with you going to meet Fawkes."

"Who's Fawkes?" Lilly and Albus asked in unison.

"Fawkes is someone who saved Daddy's life once."

"Like Mommy?" Lilly asked.

"And Uncle Ron?" Albus asked.

"Don't forget about the Headmaster," James called, returning to his family after dropping off his trunk. "Gee Dad is there anyone we know that didn't save your neck at some point?"

"I've told you how important it is to make good friends," Harry replied.

"Now you know why I laugh every time you tell me to be comfortable on your broom. Professor Neville told us last year that you spent more time hanging off yours than riding on it when you were in school."

"Professor Neville and I may need to have a little chat about secrets," Harry mentioned.

"Oh Dad you're so Defensive," James teased.

"Okay that's your one for the year," Harry said smiling at his oldest son.

"I'd say I'd talk to Ginny about it but she is probably feeding her husband with most of that information about your father."

"Yeah why does Aunt Ginny seem to know so much about you when she's younger than you?" Albus asked.

Harry and Hermione looked uncomfortably at each other. Somehow they had never been able to tell any of their children that the women they referred to as Aunt Ginny was also their father's ex-girlfriend. "Well we've just always been close," Harry said awkwardly. "Now come on, we need to get you on the train."

They kissed their sons goodbye though they would be seeing plenty of them and stood on the platform with their daughter. "I'm always glad that you'll be there to watch out for them," Hermione said as they waved along with all the other parents.

Harry looked down at his bride and smiled, "Don't worry, if they ever need anything I know a hero who has been looking for someone to save for the last 19 years."

Hermione gripped her husband and grinned, "Forever the hero, forever mine."

**A/N: I know it's short but I just wanted to put a little bow on everything and give you my version of how I think they should have grown up. I hope you enjoyed reading and thanks so much for following along. I have another story started, something I've been working on when I couldn't get inspired for this one. It's another Harry/Hermione story set 10 years after the end of Deathly Hallows. I'll probably start posting some of it in a few days, once I can be sure I know where the story is going. In the meantime you can always read my other story on here, 'Harry Potter and the Fight To Start Over.' It's another Harry/Hermione with Ginny thrown in as well and takes off directly from the morning after the Battle of Hogwarts. Check it out if you want and let me know what you think. Thanks again and I'll see you in the next story.**

**A/N 2.0: Update: Having trouble getting motivated to write this next story. Wondering if anyone out there would be interested in being a beta for me that I could send the first few chapters and then maybe bounce a few ideas off of, preferably someone that you know actually likes the way I write. The last thing I wanna do is start posting a story on here and then not finish it. Message me if you're interested. **


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